Reflection on the development of the tool kits of Bertin’s methods

ABSTRACT

Bertin’s first book, Semiology of Graphics, was published in 1967. His second book, Graphics and Graphic Information Processing, was subsequently published in 1977. The word “processing” in the title of the second book is interesting because in those days there were no personal computers with an interactive display system. But in Bertin’s laboratory there were many kinds of tool kits – basically manually developed thematic maps and data analysis. Bertin’s methods were concerned with making a thematic map and data visualization. Maps, and more generally graphics, were represented by sets of cartographic symbols. Thus, they are abstractions that demand both theoretical and technical literacy to represent and understand them. If the representation is systematic, a sort of tool kit might be necessary, because the representation demands consistency based on the theory. Otherwise a cartographer faces the risk of an unstable and unintelligible representation. In this paper, we discuss the discrimination between tool kits intended either for an automated system or a process assisting system. The latter process might be useful and necessary to develop a graphic way of thinking. This investigation refers to Bertin’s books, materials conserved at the National Archives in Paris, and other related software developed later.

Abbreviation: EHESS: Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales inherited Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes since 1975

KEYWORDS:

• Bertin
• semiology
• graphics
• tool kits
• processing
• user assistance
• Bertin@50

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank the reviewers for their constructive comments, suggestions, and advice which greatly improved the quality and the readability of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.