Preface xi modern GIS and the revolution it has created in thinking, action, and technology. Our collective aspiration is to share what we have learned and what we believe is a powerful way to better understand Earth’s systems and guide human action. My life’s work has centered on the question of how to put the geographic factors that define Earth’s systems into a computer so that we could see problems as relationships between phenomena. The idea was that by visualizing and modeling these relationships, we could harness the computer to compare vast amounts of data, make predictions, and arrive at new understandings to drive the smartest approaches to planning, design, and environmental protection. The science of geography is all about where. The word itself is a simple yet profound part of language that resonates with human experience. We intuitively comprehend the concept of where because it’s part of our daily life. It can be both a question and a statement. Where serves as a bridge to exploration, triggers our curiosity, and evokes human connection. Where is about location, and location is one of the most natural and common ways for us to organize our thoughts and experiences. As children, we begin our explorations by understanding where we are, and from there, by searching for where we want to go. In other words, we focus on where something is in reference to everything else. Location is a way to organize, index, and retrieve our memories. Almost everything happens somewhere, and as humans we use spatial location to catalog everything we know about a place. It’s different here than it is there. Where is essential for comparative analysis, asking questions such as, “Where are there grocery stores within walking distance from homes?” “Where are there better schools?” “Where are the areas with more trees?” Where is also emotional and personal. We visit our birthplace, vacation with loved ones, hike with friends, and survive misfortune. Later, when we remember these experiences, we recall exactly where we were— and the feelings associated with them. Where underpins everything we do and provides context for our stories and memories. Grounded in the power of where, GIS organizes and integrates all types of data and supports mapping and virtually all human activities with analysis, models, and maps of all kinds of information, transforming how we address challenges and act responsibly. GIS also enables the geographic approach as a way of thinking and acting that brings together all these factors and supports holistic thinking. The geographic approach answers questions such as “Where is it?” and “How do I get there?” In that way, where is as much a verb as it is a noun. But instead of addressing problems in a linear way, the geographic approach integrates all the factors—and all the scientific disciplines—to reveal unseen patterns and relationships. We began automating maps and overlaying map layers at scale in the early 1970s. We used these new digital techniques to do simple arithmetic and logical manipulation of environmental data, such as vegetation, soils, slopes, and landforms. Applying this data, we realized that GIS could model these interconnections and become a useful platform for understanding the complications of our world. These map overlay models and many related spatial analytic tools have led to new insights and ways to solve problems. They have also supported ecosystem models and helped us realize that almost everything is related to everything else—that my actions or inactions here affect your life there, which makes the geographic approach an empathic endeavor. Geographic thinking is the ability to use interdisciplinary data to model these relationships and perform geographic analysis to show how they connect and interact. Maps, particularly digital maps, are rapidly becoming a language that magnifies our understanding of everything. We grasp maps intuitively; other forms of communication can take longer to comprehend. Maps allow us to easily communicate information about human activities, including design and collaboration. They describe not only what is but what could be. The power of where is about unleashing all our knowledge of the world and using spatial analytics and mapping to support many natural and science-based actions. My hope is that the stories, maps, and examples in these pages will inspire you to embrace and use this geospatial power as we work together to create a better tomorrow.
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