Maps are an interesting aspect of human history. Since their inventing in the ancient world, people have used them as a source of both knowledge and power. Maps can be utilized in various aspects. Some people use them to know boundaries of land, geographical features and political boundaries. This can be classified as a sort of practical knowledge in order to know where to go and what to expect there. The essay of James Akerman relates to maps in this sense. In fact Akerman praises the American road map of the twentieth century to be one of the greatest inventions at the benefit of the public. This is certainly the case for the American road maps. These maps had a direct impact on the popular culture. In fact they changed popular culture by introducing a new concept of traveling. The map is organized around the roads, the highways, and not vice versa.
The central theme that attracts viewer’s attention is the highway(s) and everything in the map is organized around it. One can view the trip that he wants to pursue and find in the map all the necessary facilities to make it as easier and pleasurable as possible. The map clearly indicates all the gas stations during the trip so you will not be concerned about running out of gas, all the restaurants and bars so you can refresh yourself and any natural park or attraction alongside the road which you can visit. This is a very practical way of informing people and motivating them to take the trip instead of de-motivating them. These maps changed the psychology of traveling by road in American society. Now the trip is not just about getting from point A to point B but also of enjoying the road and taking advantage of all the facilities and natural beauties that can be found alongside the road.
Another aspect of maps is their relation to power. The knowledge of the existence of oil has made people to mine it and use its enormous returns to dominate the world. Oil is a very important resource to a country since it keeps the economy running by providing energy as well as fetching foreign exchange thus contributing directly to the country’s gross domestic product. Despite many countries being involved in the search for oil minerals, the product has been found to occur only at selected areas of the world. This paper identifies maps, knowledge and power, and their relation to oil and people in the context of Harley (1988) in the book “Maps, knowledge, and power”.
The oil and gas map of the world conveys a significant message to the reader. The circles that symbolize oil production of the world attract attention immediately toward the Arabian Peninsula. The overlapping circles demonstrate of the producing power of the region. In the other hand, the oil consumption circles demonstrate the predominance of North American (mainly US) market for oil consumption. Thus, the inevitable thought that comes to mind is the connection between the two regions, i.e. the biggest consumer with the biggest producer. Subsequently one can understand the focus of interest of the United States government in the region just by viewing the circles of this map. Compared to the previous map or American roads, this one is conveying not a practical knowledge to people but a political and economical message to businesses and governments.