From Place to Space: The Psychological Achievement of Thematic Mapping

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Abstract
A fundamental distinction between "reference" and "thematic" mapping is common in cartography, but existing analytical literature on the nature of this distinction does not make completely clear why such verbal emphasis on two classes of mapping has emerged, nor exactly what the differentiating criteria are. In this article, emphasis shifts from the map itself to the meaning of the map for the percipient. Using this point of view, a fundamental (and hierarchical) reference/thematic distinction is proposed. The meaning of reference maps originates in direct locational experience—the act of pointing to places as objects, "here is …". Thematic maps, in contrast, deal with the intellectual construct of space, with knowledge about space rather than experience in space.

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