The Cold War and the Rise of Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

SES 0114672朱迪思·雷皮/约翰·克劳德，康奈尔大学冷战和地理信息系统的兴起当代地理学的大多数基础技术都是在20世纪后半叶设计的，并受到冷战的紧迫性和机遇的影响。这些技术及其数据来源最初往往是高度机密的。由此产生了一个庞大而复杂的地理和相关技术产业，其中心是地理信息系统（GIS），通过叠加技术集成地理参考数据。 co-PI先前的研究表明，GIS是在冷战期间地理科学的融合中出现的。这种新的技术和实践体系不是在一个复杂而巨大的分类知识生产体系中发展起来的，而是通过这个体系发展起来的，这个体系改变了美国的科学机构和实践，但也彻底掩盖了交流的性质和来源。GIS的标准历史承认覆盖技术的早期倡议，但不追求它们。地理整合是在哪里、如何、何时以及由谁通过叠加发展起来的？叠加是如何从模拟系统转变为数字系统的，这些系统又是如何转变为民用的？为什么GIS历史的这些早期阶段被忽视了？叠加集成在战前的区域规划中有着复杂的根源，但模拟到数字转换的主要部分发生在使用侦察图像的近实时测绘系统中，这是美国政府最严格保密的秘密之一。这些军事地理信息系统（MGIS）失去了最初的“M”，从分类计划中脱颖而出。地理信息系统标准历史的年表和重点构成了幸存的封面故事的一部分，该项目在科学和技术研究以及关于双重用途的文献的框架内探索地理信息系统的历史。通过采访，档案研究，以及对以前分类或故意隐藏的记录的检查，该项目揭示了GIS的历史，它比以前的记录更长，更黑暗，更有趣。该项目通过阐明GIS发展中被忽视或忽视的重要时期来推进地理科学。深入细致地研究这些技术转型，为冷战时期的科学技术提供了一个重要的案例研究。它揭示了早期应用的叠加与公众参与的分析和规划，具有重要意义的当代倡议，以扩大公众参与GIS。 这项研究的成果包括在适当的会议上作专题介绍，在地理信息科学和科学技术研究等学科的同行评审期刊上发表文章，一份载有地理信息系统“史前”历史上重要数据集的网上出版物，以及为“二十世纪历史制图项目”的探索性论文倡议撰写的一篇增刊文章。“这项研究恢复了冷战秘密地理的最重要的故事之一，

SES 0114672Judith Reppy/John Cloud, Cornell UniversityThe Cold War and the Rise of GISMost of the fundamental technologies of contemporary geography were devised in the last half of the 20th century and were shaped by the exigencies and opportunities of the Cold War. The technologies and their data sources were initially often deeply secret. Out of this has emerged a large and complex industry of geographic and allied technologies, at the center of which are geographic information systems (GIS), that integrate geo-referenced data by techniques of overlay. Prior research by the co-PI suggests that GIS emerged from the convergence of the geographic sciences during the Cold War. This new system of technologies and practices developed not despite, but rather through a complex and enormously productive system of classified knowledge production that transformed American scientific institutions and practices, but also thoroughly disguised the nature and sources of the exchanges. Standard histories of GIS acknowledge earlier initiatives in overlay technique, but do not pursue them. Where, how, when, and by whom did geographic integration by overlay develop? How did overlay change from analog to digital systems, and how did these systems transfer to civilian use? And why have these earlier stages of the history of GIS been ignored? Integration by overlay has complex roots in prewar regional planning, but the major part of the analog-to-digital transition occurred in near-real-time mapping systems using reconnaissance imagery that was among the most closely guarded secrets of the U.S. government. These Military Geographic Information Systems (MGIS) lost their initial "M" to emerge from classified programs as-GIS. The chronologies and emphasis of standard histories of GIS constitute part of the surviving cover story.This project explores the history of GIS within a framework informed by science and technology studies and the literature on dual use. Through interviews, archival research, and examination of previously classified or deliberately suppressed records the project reveals a history of GIS that is longer, darker, and altogether more interesting that previous accounts have suggested. The project advances the geographic sciences by illuminating a significant period in GIS development that has been overlooked or ignored. Examining these technological transitions in grounded detail provides an important case study in Cold War science and technology. And it discloses early applications of overlay linked to public involvement in analysis and planning with important implications for contemporary initiatives to broaden public participation in GIS. Products of the study include presentations at appropriate conferences, publications in peer-reviewed journals in the disciplines of geographic information science and studies of science and technology, a web publication with historically significant data sets from the "pre-history" of GIS; and an augmented essay for the Exploratory Essays Initiative of the "History of Twentieth Century Cartography Project." This research recovers one of the most important stories of the secret geography of the Cold War