0:00:05 > 0:00:08I'm going left to my favourite coffee shop,
0:00:08 > 0:00:10which does the best coffee on the street.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Then I come straight back out and I'll call into the paper shop,
0:00:13 > 0:00:17because my friend KC runs it and we always have a joke.
0:00:17 > 0:00:23I come out, go left, curve down here, big new-build place here.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26I'm intrigued about what it's going to do to house prices,
0:00:26 > 0:00:28so I'm always looking to see how that's going on.
0:00:28 > 0:00:33Then I keep left, cross a bridge, which goes over the canal.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37Then I'm going right along here, passing all the boats, and then
0:00:37 > 0:00:40I'm going right here. Go left,
0:00:40 > 0:00:44and there I am, I'm now into Oxford station.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47I'm there in ten minutes and then I'm on my way.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51Map making is a basic human instinct.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56It's one of the ways we make sense of the world around us.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00I've been studying and writing about maps for most of my working life.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03I'm fascinated by the way they're like windows on to different times
0:01:03 > 0:01:05and different cultures.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11That map that I've produced is absolutely unique to me.
0:01:11 > 0:01:12It's totally subjective.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15I'm not interested in what's going on over here.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18I haven't filled any of this area here. It's dead to me.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20I've edited out what I don't want.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23I'm doing what mapmakers tend to do.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25They offer a specific perspective from their
0:01:25 > 0:01:29own subjective experience, and the map reflects that.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34In this series, I'm going to explore how maps give an insight
0:01:34 > 0:01:39into the political and cultural forces that drive society.
0:01:40 > 0:01:41Wow!
0:01:44 > 0:01:48I'm going to dig beneath the surface of some extraordinary maps
0:01:48 > 0:01:50to reveal stories of power,
0:01:50 > 0:01:53plunder,
0:01:53 > 0:01:54and possession.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00In this programme, I'm going back to where map-making began.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06I'll find out what first drove people to create maps
0:02:06 > 0:02:08before they could even write.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11How they evolved, not just to depict the world,
0:02:11 > 0:02:14but also to exert power and authority over it.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17I'll discover some of the great scientific advances
0:02:17 > 0:02:20that made this possible.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24And I'll explore how the style of modern maps that we take for granted
0:02:24 > 0:02:28as objective, even natural, is nothing of the sort.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53Valcamonica in Northern Italy.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56Home to one of the oldest settlements in Europe.
0:02:59 > 0:03:00For a map fanatic like me,
0:03:00 > 0:03:04it's most famous for being the cradle of map making.
0:03:10 > 0:03:11The map created here
0:03:11 > 0:03:14is considered to be one of the oldest maps in the world.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16This is cartography's year zero
0:03:16 > 0:03:19and it gives us some vital clues as to why people
0:03:19 > 0:03:23were compelled to make maps before they even learnt to write.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30The map is located high in the Eastern Alps,
0:03:30 > 0:03:33near the small village of Bedolina.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36It has survived for nearly 3,000 years
0:03:36 > 0:03:40and was only identified by archaeologists 80 years ago.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06So here it is. It's extraordinary.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10And as I look at it, what's interesting is that there's
0:04:10 > 0:04:12clearly a structure, there's a code,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15there's a system about what's being represented here.
0:04:15 > 0:04:21You can see these rectangles with dots in them represent fields.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24And throughout, these lines,
0:04:24 > 0:04:28which appear to represent some notion of the landscape.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30There's timber-framed houses down here.
0:04:30 > 0:04:35There's the roof and the main body of the house there.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39There are stick figures, these warriors down here,
0:04:39 > 0:04:43you can see a deer with four clearly marked legs.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45And for me, it's actually incredibly moving
0:04:45 > 0:04:47because this is where it all began.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49This is the beginning of map making.
0:04:49 > 0:04:54This is the origin of what I've been thinking about for all this time.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56It's absolutely breathtaking.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06The origins and purpose of the Bedolina Map
0:05:06 > 0:05:09have mystified archaeologists for years.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15This is not a geographically accurate map of the area.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17You couldn't use it to get from A to B.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19So what was it for?
0:05:21 > 0:05:25After analyzing rock drawings and using comparative dating techniques,
0:05:25 > 0:05:27archaeologists now believe it was
0:05:27 > 0:05:31created by an ancient tribe, the Cammuni,
0:05:31 > 0:05:33at a critical moment in their history.
0:05:33 > 0:05:393,000 years ago, the Cammuni were pioneering a whole new way of life.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42Agriculture was replacing the hunter-gatherer lifestyle
0:05:42 > 0:05:45and creating a more complex social structure.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50Archaeologist Alberto Marretta
0:05:50 > 0:05:55thinks this is the key to unlocking the map's secrets.
0:05:55 > 0:06:00We have evidence from the rock art and from the archaeology that
0:06:00 > 0:06:04in Valcaominica there were aristocracies here.
0:06:04 > 0:06:10Some sort of small groups of people controlling the small communities
0:06:10 > 0:06:12and probably controlling the land.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16And do you think that's important in terms of how they used the map?
0:06:18 > 0:06:23I think that this group of people, this aristrocracies,
0:06:23 > 0:06:28are symbolizing through the map the possession of the landscape
0:06:28 > 0:06:32that they had in this part of the valley.
0:06:35 > 0:06:36It seems that the tribal elites
0:06:36 > 0:06:40were using the map to celebrate their ownership of the land.
0:06:42 > 0:06:48They draw the map probably to represent not a real landscape,
0:06:48 > 0:06:52but to represent an ideal landscape.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55It was some sort of...
0:06:55 > 0:06:59supernatural representation of the landscape
0:06:59 > 0:07:03as it should be after you and after your sons
0:07:03 > 0:07:07and after your time has passed on.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09- So it's a very symbolic image.- Yeah.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13In some sense it is highly symbolic.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17'Alberto believes these images of well-ordered fields
0:07:17 > 0:07:21'and plentiful crops were a vision of future prosperity.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24'The map was designed to bolster the power of the ruling elite
0:07:24 > 0:07:26'by reassuring the Cammuni people
0:07:26 > 0:07:29'that life would improve under their leadership.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35'The map is a fascinating window into an ancient culture.
0:07:36 > 0:07:42'And it reveals that map-making was bound up with power and politics
0:07:42 > 0:07:43'right from the start.'
0:07:49 > 0:07:54As ancient societies became more complex, so too did their maps.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58Within the next 1,000 years,
0:07:58 > 0:08:00the Romans were using maps
0:08:00 > 0:08:03to help them build the greatest empire in the world.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08They created maps of their towns, regions and colonies.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15Many have been lost.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18This is a copy of one of the few to have survived
0:08:18 > 0:08:20and it's quite spectacular.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33This is a map of the world in Roman times.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36It's the longest map I have ever seen in my entire life.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40It stretches all the way from Sri Lanka and India
0:08:40 > 0:08:42down here in the east,
0:08:44 > 0:08:47right along here to the furthest western point,
0:08:47 > 0:08:51which shows the southern coast of Great Britain.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57It is an absolutely extraordinary map.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59It's six-and-a-half metres in length.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03Scholars actually believe it was longer and that it's lost about
0:09:03 > 0:09:05two metres, which rather tantalisingly
0:09:05 > 0:09:09would have given us a much better picture of the British Isles.
0:09:19 > 0:09:24Here's Germany, labelled Alemannia, just squeezed into a few centimetres
0:09:24 > 0:09:27up here on the north coast of Europe.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30There's the River Rhine running right along there.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37And here's the Mediterranean,
0:09:37 > 0:09:42like a long, snaking river, moving right down there.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50And probably the most prominent landmass on the map,
0:09:50 > 0:09:53not surprisingly, is Italy,
0:09:53 > 0:09:56stretching right down here - there's Rome - it goes all the way down.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00You can see the boot, and there's Sicily.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03But nothing like we understand it today.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10What's really striking about looking at this map
0:10:10 > 0:10:13with the depiction of Europe, North Africa and Asia,
0:10:13 > 0:10:16in this shape there's no way that this could be an
0:10:16 > 0:10:19accurate representation of how the Romans saw the world.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25The geography is obviously way out.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29And yet there are some details of astonishing accuracy.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33These red lines that criss-cross the map are the
0:10:33 > 0:10:38famous straight Roman roads running across its surface.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41And above them are symbols exhibiting the distance
0:10:41 > 0:10:47between places in terms of leagues or miles, depending where you are.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49There's Rome.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52On the red Roman road, the Vatican.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55the symbol just above it shows that it's just one mile.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01But the map is covered with these kind of symbols.
0:11:01 > 0:11:02You have another one here
0:11:02 > 0:11:06which shows the distance from Strasburg, shown there,
0:11:06 > 0:11:10to Mainz, there. What happens is that the Roman numerals tell you
0:11:10 > 0:11:15how far you're going from Strasburg to the next town or village,
0:11:15 > 0:11:17which is labelled with seven.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21The distance here is 18.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25All the way to Mainz, which is 74 leagues altogether.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29Route markings, distances clearly annotated,
0:11:29 > 0:11:33towns where people could stop off for the night.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35These details led to the belief
0:11:35 > 0:11:38that the map was the equivalent of a modern road atlas.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44But just look at this map. It's hardly pocket size, is it?
0:11:44 > 0:11:48Imagine strapping it to the back of a horse and then hauling it out
0:11:48 > 0:11:50every time you lost your way.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53As a route finder, it's completely impractical.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00To understand the purpose of this map,
0:12:00 > 0:12:04we need to look back to the time when it was created, around 300 AD.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09By then, the Empire had already been under attack
0:12:09 > 0:12:11from invading Barbarians.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13To meet the threat, Rome's armies had expanded
0:12:13 > 0:12:16and citizens lived in the grip of authoritarian rule.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24But the map shows only peace and harmony.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28Spa and bath towns are clearly marked all over the map.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34So where are the fortifications and garrisons?
0:12:34 > 0:12:38And where are the divisions between regions?
0:12:38 > 0:12:41This seems to be a land without borders.
0:12:41 > 0:12:46In reality, the Empire was divided and ruled by four competing leaders.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50It's been suggested that this map of the Roman world
0:12:50 > 0:12:53may have hung behind one of their thrones.
0:12:53 > 0:12:58With its remarkable details of roads and distances, this map was designed
0:12:58 > 0:13:01to give the impression of order and control.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06So, while the Bedolina Map in the Alps promised the people a better
0:13:06 > 0:13:09world to come, this map is trying to hide the fact
0:13:09 > 0:13:13that the power and riches of Empire are under threat.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22This map glosses over the messy, complex reality
0:13:22 > 0:13:25of internal tensions and external threats.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27Its main message is one of unity
0:13:27 > 0:13:31and that made it an incredibly powerful political tool.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43By the 12th century, sophisticated map-making
0:13:43 > 0:13:46was an essential tool of imperial power.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49And Chinese maps were among the most sophisticated on Earth.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54I'm going to Pembroke College in Oxford to have a look at one.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00It's called the Yu Ji Tu, and it was carved on to
0:14:00 > 0:14:05a metre-wide stone that was erected in a Chinese schoolyard in 1136.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11Remarkably, it has all the hallmarks of a modern map.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13It shows the whole Empire from an aerial perspective
0:14:13 > 0:14:16and the gridlines suggest it's drawn to scale.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21But just how accurate is it?
0:14:21 > 0:14:25Historian Hilde De Weerdt is using a special technique
0:14:25 > 0:14:27to compare it with a 21st century map.
0:14:34 > 0:14:39So we start out by picking a few points on the historical map
0:14:39 > 0:14:42to map onto the modern map.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46So in effect you're going to overlay the 12th century map
0:14:46 > 0:14:49- onto the modern map. - That's correct.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52We will pick some places along the coast to start out with
0:14:52 > 0:14:58and typically we want to pick a place that hasn't changed too much.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01The first point we'll pick is a prefecture called Tai Zhou.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05we see it here on the historical map.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10One by one, Hilde picks out some of the towns and locations
0:15:10 > 0:15:12that are marked on the historical map.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20She then enters their modern co-ordinates,
0:15:20 > 0:15:24allowing the map to be positioned against a satellite image.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30First of all, it allows you to place a historical map very accurately.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37The similarity between the maps is immediately obvious.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43You can tell the coastline, the modern coastline, correlates to
0:15:43 > 0:15:47the coastline as it is depicted on the historical map.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52But the really astonishing thing is that the 37 locations
0:15:52 > 0:15:56chosen by Hilde are remarkably close to their position on the modern map.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15Wow, that's extraordinary, so that's an incredibly close fit between
0:16:15 > 0:16:20the contemporary modern co-ordinates and the 12th century co-ordinates.
0:16:20 > 0:16:21It is indeed quite striking
0:16:21 > 0:16:25and we wouldn't be able to do that for a lot of other historical maps.
0:16:25 > 0:16:26That's amazing!
0:16:30 > 0:16:33We have no record of the surveying techniques used
0:16:33 > 0:16:35to make this astonishingly accurate map.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38And there's a mystery here.
0:16:38 > 0:16:39For all its accuracy,
0:16:41 > 0:16:45the Yu Ji Tu contains a number of glaring geographical errors.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47The source of the Yellow River
0:16:47 > 0:16:52is marked hundreds of kilometres away from its real location.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56And here's a river which doesn't even exist.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58So, what's really going on here?
0:17:00 > 0:17:03The answer to this map-making mystery
0:17:03 > 0:17:07can be found in the pages of this historical text.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09It's called the Yu Gong.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13It's a description of the landscape of China during the lifetime of
0:17:13 > 0:17:17King Yu, a legendary leader from the 21st century BC.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23The Great Yu was said to have had a comprehensive knowledge
0:17:23 > 0:17:24of all of China.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28And it was this book that formed the basis of all Chinese geography.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31These writings were greatly revered by the Chinese.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34It was almost a sacred text.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48The name of the 12th century map,
0:17:48 > 0:17:51Yu Ji Tu, translates as, "The map of the tracks of Yu".
0:17:51 > 0:17:55This reveals its connection with the text of the Yu Gong.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59The positioning of the source of the Yellow River
0:17:59 > 0:18:01isn't the result of a 12th century survey.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04It's been mapped according to the words of the Yu Gong.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07That's why it's in the wrong place.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15And that extra river over here, the Heishui, or "Black River",
0:18:15 > 0:18:17is referred to in the Yu Gong,
0:18:17 > 0:18:22so it was drawn on the map even though it didn't exist.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26The map seems to be an attempt to portray an up-to-date image of China
0:18:26 > 0:18:29without undermining Yu's ancient vision of the Empire.
0:18:35 > 0:18:3612th Century map makers
0:18:36 > 0:18:39must have known this information was inaccurate.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42But the important thing was fidelity to Yu,
0:18:42 > 0:18:45not geographical realism or accuracy.
0:18:55 > 0:19:00Creating maps with this level of detail required huge resources.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03It would be another 400 years before the means were available
0:19:03 > 0:19:07to fund a national mapping project in England.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13In 1539, Henry VIII commissioned a survey
0:19:13 > 0:19:16of the entire English coastline.
0:19:16 > 0:19:21But Henry didn't simply just want an impressive image of his Kingdom.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23He wanted to defend it.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31Local artists were ordered to make sketch maps of the coast.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35Their drawings were sent to London,
0:19:35 > 0:19:39where they were compiled into master maps for the King.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50This is one of Henry's maps.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53It's a giant birds' eye view of the coast,
0:19:53 > 0:19:57all the way from Exeter, right down to Lands End in Cornwall.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03It's a beautiful map, and it's a really, really important step in
0:20:03 > 0:20:07the move towards geographical representation.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11You see places in a level of realism
0:20:11 > 0:20:14that the English had never seen before.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17You've got Exeter in birds' eye view which is quite clear.
0:20:20 > 0:20:26You have Plymouth represented here in a way that was completely new.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28It's absolutely extraordinary.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31The colouring, the whole detail.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33This isn't just a beautiful map -
0:20:33 > 0:20:39it's also an extremely strategic map with a very specific end in mind.
0:20:39 > 0:20:44It's about coastal defence and it's about repelling invasions.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48And we can tell that by looking at the forts that pepper
0:20:48 > 0:20:50the entire coastline,
0:20:51 > 0:20:59saying, "Made," "Not made" or "Half made".
0:21:01 > 0:21:05So for instance here, we can see a fort that is labelled "Not made"
0:21:05 > 0:21:08but it has quite clearly been drawn over
0:21:08 > 0:21:11the coastal location at a later point.
0:21:11 > 0:21:17so probably over several years Henry looks at this and says,
0:21:17 > 0:21:20"This is where I need my coastal fortifications."
0:21:23 > 0:21:26Divorce from his Spanish wife Catherine of Aragon
0:21:26 > 0:21:29had led Henry to fear a Spanish invasion.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33He wanted to build new forts like this to defend his realm.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39To help identify where these defences were needed,
0:21:39 > 0:21:42the mapmakers prioritised the most vulnerable places.
0:21:48 > 0:21:53Certain areas, particularly inlets and sandy bays, where invading
0:21:53 > 0:21:57forces could land, are mapped in absolutely minute detail.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06Other areas of the map, for instance rocky outlets or cliff tops
0:22:06 > 0:22:09where you can't really land a ship,
0:22:09 > 0:22:11are not really mapped very accurately at all.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17It didn't matter to Henry that this wasn't exactly to scale.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21What really mattered to Henry was that he could now sit in London
0:22:21 > 0:22:23and he could survey this entire coastline
0:22:23 > 0:22:27and he could decide exactly what he wanted to do with it
0:22:27 > 0:22:29and where he wanted to put his fortifications.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38But the techniques used by Henry's surveyors were evolving rapidly.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48In 1544, Henry's forces laid siege
0:22:48 > 0:22:52to the French town of Boulogne and occupied it.
0:22:55 > 0:23:00Two years later, he commissioned a map that would be accurate enough
0:23:00 > 0:23:03for him to define the limits of his newly-conquered territory.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08It's a forerunner to the Ordnance Survey maps,
0:23:08 > 0:23:10and we can see that because of the
0:23:10 > 0:23:12way in which he uses an aerial perspective.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14It looks right down onto the land,
0:23:14 > 0:23:18and it also has a detailed scale which we can see here.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21One inch to a thousand feet.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32This was one of the first times that Henry's surveyors attempted
0:23:32 > 0:23:36an accurate representation of scale on a strategic map.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42It's thought they measured distances by pacing them out.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46They also used lengths of rope and compasses to check their findings.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52It was one of the most accurate maps ever presented to the King.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58Henry himself is believed to have marked out in a red line
0:23:58 > 0:24:01the territory that he wanted for the
0:24:01 > 0:24:06English, and it's one of the first times that an English ruler has used
0:24:06 > 0:24:08a map to draw a political frontier.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14Henry had exploited his great power and resources to
0:24:14 > 0:24:18improve the technical precision and geographical accuracy of his maps.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25But there was still a huge obstacle
0:24:25 > 0:24:29to the accurate measurement and mapping of large areas.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35The earth isn't flat like a map - it's a sphere.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40Just over a hundred years later,
0:24:40 > 0:24:45King Louis XIV of France was looking for a way to overcome this problem.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50In 1663, he commissioned a map
0:24:50 > 0:24:54of the whole of France to help consolidate his power.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02This building, the Royal Observatory in Paris,
0:25:02 > 0:25:05was at the heart of his ambitious plans.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12When we think of a modern map, we tend to imagine an entirely
0:25:12 > 0:25:15accurate representation of the world on paper.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17The reason why I've come here
0:25:17 > 0:25:20is because this is where that idea was born.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27And it happened here because of an extraordinary collision of power,
0:25:27 > 0:25:29politics and scientific progress -
0:25:29 > 0:25:32the Enlightenment.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34The leading astronomer at the Observatory
0:25:34 > 0:25:36was Giovanni Domenico Cassini.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40He found the solution to the problem of accurately measuring
0:25:40 > 0:25:43distances across the globe in the science of astronomy.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50Map-makers already knew how to measure latitude -
0:25:50 > 0:25:53the distance north or south of the equator -
0:25:53 > 0:25:56by observing the height of the sun.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59But a way to measure longitude -
0:25:59 > 0:26:04the distance east or west of a point - had still to be found.
0:26:08 > 0:26:13Thanks to a dramatic increase in the power of telescopic lenses,
0:26:13 > 0:26:14Cassini found the answer
0:26:14 > 0:26:17by observing the eclipses of Jupiter's moons.
0:26:21 > 0:26:26He timed the eclipses in Paris and then compared this with the time
0:26:26 > 0:26:29the same eclipses were seen in Brest,
0:26:29 > 0:26:31600km to the west of the city.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34The apparent time difference between
0:26:34 > 0:26:38the two observations was then used to help calculate longitude.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42Cassini sent out teams of astronomers to record
0:26:42 > 0:26:47the timing of the eclipses as they occurred along the French coastline.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57This is just a sample of the voluminous correspondence
0:26:57 > 0:26:59that came back to Cassini
0:26:59 > 0:27:04here at the observatory by his surveyors spread right over France.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06Every location that they went to,
0:27:06 > 0:27:09they took detailed measurements feeding those measurements back
0:27:09 > 0:27:13to Cassini to start put together an accurate measurement of longitude
0:27:13 > 0:27:14right across France.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17This is a letter from Brest with one of his surveyors
0:27:17 > 0:27:23assessing the eclipses, giving an exact time at which they took place.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25And this kind of precision
0:27:25 > 0:27:28had never been applied to map making ever before.
0:27:28 > 0:27:33Finally, in May 1682 the King's surveyors were able to present him
0:27:33 > 0:27:36with the first true outline of France.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41The coastline was revealed to be
0:27:41 > 0:27:44astonishingly different from the way it appeared on earlier maps.
0:27:46 > 0:27:51France was shown to be 20% smaller than all previous estimates.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54Louis was horrified.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58Science, said Louis, had cost him more territory
0:27:58 > 0:27:59than any invading enemy.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14The shape of the coastline was now established.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17But there was an even greater task ahead -
0:28:17 > 0:28:21to map out the whole of the interior of France.
0:28:22 > 0:28:26In the mid 18th century, surveyors arrived here
0:28:26 > 0:28:29at Chateau de Champs-sur-Marne just outside Paris.
0:28:31 > 0:28:33They'd come to calculate the smaller distances
0:28:33 > 0:28:36between a series of fixed points in the grounds.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38To do this they used another scientific technique
0:28:38 > 0:28:40called triangulation.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42France was about to be divided into
0:28:42 > 0:28:45hundreds of carefully measured triangles.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57Historian of mapmaking, Daniel Schelstraete
0:28:57 > 0:29:00is about to show me how it was done.
0:29:00 > 0:29:03TRANSLATION: In order to create a triangle,
0:29:03 > 0:29:08first of all they had to measure the distance of a straight line.
0:29:08 > 0:29:09The problem back then
0:29:09 > 0:29:14was that measuring it was very hard and took a long time.
0:29:14 > 0:29:18So they had to find ground that was totally flat, or work
0:29:18 > 0:29:22for several days stopping and levelling it,
0:29:22 > 0:29:23which was very difficult.
0:29:23 > 0:29:28And the rulers that were used were only four metres long.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33Despite these difficulties, a straight line would have to
0:29:33 > 0:29:36be measured between the two fixed points.
0:29:36 > 0:29:40It was called a baseline and it formed the first side of a triangle.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45Standing at one end of the base line, Daniel is demonstrating
0:29:45 > 0:29:49how they worked out the rest of the dimensions of the triangle.
0:29:55 > 0:29:57So, we want to look over there at the statue
0:29:57 > 0:30:00which you can see is at the other end of the line.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03And if you look through the lens,
0:30:03 > 0:30:05you can see that the image is upside down.
0:30:05 > 0:30:09And then we look over to the pigeon house through the other lens.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14The pigeon house marks the third point of the triangle.
0:30:16 > 0:30:20And then the instrument shows you the angle of the corner of the triangle.
0:30:20 > 0:30:2275 degrees.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28Now the task is repeated at the other end of the baseline
0:30:28 > 0:30:30and a second angle is measured.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36From this information the lengths of the other two sides of the triangle
0:30:36 > 0:30:39can be worked out using the laws of trigonometry.
0:30:39 > 0:30:45TRANSLATION: The operator would take the measurements
0:30:45 > 0:30:47and then write them down in a notebook.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51We're lucky to have an original notebook from these times
0:30:51 > 0:30:53with the name of the operator,
0:30:53 > 0:30:57and, "Observations made on the Plain of Paris and Meaux".
0:30:59 > 0:31:03- So these are the measurements from this exact spot?- Exactly.
0:31:05 > 0:31:07So, here is the description. You have a chimney.
0:31:07 > 0:31:11Here's a reference to the pediment.
0:31:11 > 0:31:15And everything that was located would be written down.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18And when it was necessary there are even a few sketches.
0:31:20 > 0:31:25Obviously the secret, the impressiveness of creating these maps
0:31:25 > 0:31:29lies in integrating all of this information across a whole territory.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32It's all thanks to the principle of triangulation.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39The dimensions of one triangle were used to create another.
0:31:39 > 0:31:46Slowly, a network of triangles was used to calculate accurate distances between places all over the France.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54This ambitious enterprise would transform the nation.
0:31:54 > 0:31:59At that time, France was a collection of diverse regions,
0:31:59 > 0:32:01each with its own identity.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04There were hundreds of French dialects,
0:32:04 > 0:32:08but now the whole country was slowly being brought together in one map.
0:32:17 > 0:32:21The Carte de Cassini was finally completed in 1789,
0:32:21 > 0:32:24by which time Louis XVI was on the throne.
0:32:24 > 0:32:28Over 120 years, four generations of the Cassini family
0:32:28 > 0:32:31had devoted their lives to mapping France.
0:32:33 > 0:32:35This is the Carte de Cassini
0:32:35 > 0:32:37and it's the first time I've actually seen it
0:32:37 > 0:32:40and what strikes me, of course, as I open it
0:32:40 > 0:32:44is that it's not just a map, it's a book of maps.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47And this is the map of France.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51Down the left-hand side, table of longitude and latitude.
0:32:54 > 0:32:56You look at the map itself
0:32:56 > 0:33:02and it's a series of squares created from the triangulation process.
0:33:02 > 0:33:07Here is the whole French nation, mapped in exact scientific detail.
0:33:13 > 0:33:16And if we turn to the map of Paris...
0:33:16 > 0:33:19we can see all the regions of Paris mapped.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24You can see the centre here
0:33:24 > 0:33:28and that's where we are - down here on the observatory, just there.
0:33:28 > 0:33:33And it goes right through the entire country.
0:33:33 > 0:33:38Page after page are of different areas of France,
0:33:38 > 0:33:42but the way in which they are being portrayed is exactly the same.
0:33:45 > 0:33:50All the symbols, all the signs are standardised.
0:33:50 > 0:33:53The symbols for forests...
0:33:58 > 0:34:01..the symbols for rivers...
0:34:04 > 0:34:06..the symbols for towns...
0:34:11 > 0:34:13..and what's also significant here
0:34:13 > 0:34:16is the fact that the language is also being standardised.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18This is Parisian French.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22Page after page is using the same kind of language.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25Standardising the language, standardising the map.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36The scale is also exactly the same.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39Down here the scale bar, which tells you
0:34:39 > 0:34:42exactly the scale that's being used on this map.
0:34:42 > 0:34:44It's actually 1:86400.
0:34:44 > 0:34:47It is that precise.
0:34:48 > 0:34:53And it's staggering. To look at this is absolutely amazing.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56This is standardisation, but it's beautiful standardisation.
0:34:56 > 0:34:58These are maps for the King.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01It wants to look beautiful as well as being precise.
0:35:03 > 0:35:05But the map made to serve the King
0:35:05 > 0:35:08was about to become a tool of revolution.
0:35:16 > 0:35:17On the 14th July,
0:35:17 > 0:35:21just as the finishing touches were being made to the map,
0:35:21 > 0:35:24the revolutionary mob was storming the Bastille.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29Two days later they invaded the Paris Observatory.
0:35:34 > 0:35:37The new regime claimed the Carte de Cassini as national property.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45They used it to help carry out their sweeping administrative reforms.
0:35:45 > 0:35:46This was the map on which
0:35:46 > 0:35:49the boundaries of the new departments were drawn,
0:35:49 > 0:35:53the regional administrative units still used today.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16The Carte de Cassini would have an even greater legacy.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19It would help forge a powerful new national identity.
0:36:19 > 0:36:24For the very first time in history, here was a map which centralised
0:36:24 > 0:36:28and standardised an image of the nation, of France.
0:36:28 > 0:36:33It allowed all kinds of regional variations to be subsumed into
0:36:33 > 0:36:36one nation state image - the map of Cassini.
0:36:36 > 0:36:40People could identify, despite their regional variations,
0:36:40 > 0:36:41right across this map,
0:36:41 > 0:36:44even with people that they'd never even meet.
0:36:44 > 0:36:48It was an image of a unified nation state,
0:36:48 > 0:36:51even when the country was being torn apart by the revolutionary terror.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01This triumph of science and enlightenment
0:37:01 > 0:37:03had become a potent political tool.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09This was France as these revolutionary nation builders
0:37:09 > 0:37:10wanted it to be.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14One language, one nation, one map.
0:37:28 > 0:37:33While the French were uniting around their new national map,
0:37:33 > 0:37:35the British, with their expanding overseas empire,
0:37:35 > 0:37:37were charting the oceans.
0:37:40 > 0:37:41Captain James Cook was
0:37:41 > 0:37:44one of Britain's pioneering explorers and navigators.
0:37:44 > 0:37:50In August 1768, he embarked on an epic voyage bound for the Pacific.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00The latest scientific inventions gave Cook's maps a new kind of
0:38:00 > 0:38:06authority and the power to lay claim to the territory they depicted.
0:38:08 > 0:38:11Cook's mastery of science and navigation confirmed him
0:38:11 > 0:38:14as a great hero and genius of the Age of Enlightenment.
0:38:19 > 0:38:20But on the island of Tahiti,
0:38:20 > 0:38:24Cook met his match in a local navigator called Tupaia,
0:38:24 > 0:38:27who'd never even drawn a map in his life.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37Tupaia could sail across the Pacific,
0:38:37 > 0:38:41a third of the earth's surface, without the use of paper maps.
0:38:41 > 0:38:45This went against all of Cook's training and experience.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48He was so intrigued that he asked Tupaia
0:38:48 > 0:38:50to draw a chart of the Ocean,
0:38:50 > 0:38:53showing the location of all the islands he knew.
0:38:53 > 0:38:58This is a copy of the map Cook encouraged Tupaia to create.
0:39:02 > 0:39:05The sheer scale of Tupaia's knowledge shown on this map
0:39:05 > 0:39:06is absolutely astonishing.
0:39:06 > 0:39:1174 islands, half of which weren't actually even mapped by Westerners,
0:39:11 > 0:39:14but here they are being shown by Tupaia.
0:39:15 > 0:39:19Cook wrote in his journal that Tupaia "knew more of the geography
0:39:19 > 0:39:24"of the islands situated in these seas than anyone he'd ever met."
0:39:24 > 0:39:28He said that any ship would be better off with Tupaia aboard.
0:39:29 > 0:39:34Tahiarii Pariente is one of Tupaia's descendents.
0:39:34 > 0:39:36A Polynesian navigator himself,
0:39:36 > 0:39:38he's studied the techniques used by his ancestors.
0:39:40 > 0:39:45The navigator had knowledge of the stars, he knowledge about climate,
0:39:45 > 0:39:49he had knowledge about how the time would go by in a year,
0:39:49 > 0:39:51so the difference between seasons.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54I mean, there is no Polynesian culture without navigation.
0:39:54 > 0:39:58We're islanders, so we hop from island to island.
0:39:59 > 0:40:04For 3,000 years the Polynesians had been exploring and colonising
0:40:04 > 0:40:05the islands of the Pacific.
0:40:05 > 0:40:10They'd even reached America at least a century before Columbus.
0:40:10 > 0:40:13Tupaia was drawing on ancestral knowledge
0:40:13 > 0:40:15passed down through countless generations.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21When you get out from an island, until it disappears
0:40:21 > 0:40:24behind the horizon, you use the island as a bearing.
0:40:24 > 0:40:26So then you start using the stars,
0:40:26 > 0:40:30but then you don't have stars all the time, you have clouds, you have rain
0:40:30 > 0:40:33then you use the wave patterns in the ocean
0:40:33 > 0:40:38and you pull out certain fish and they know this fish only comes
0:40:38 > 0:40:41that far away from the islands, or that kind of birds.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44They know how far away they can fly,
0:40:44 > 0:40:47so you have to understand what's around you.
0:40:49 > 0:40:54When Tupaia drew his map he was encouraged to place his knowledge
0:40:54 > 0:40:56within a western framework.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59But on closer inspection, it reveals a Polynesian perspective.
0:40:59 > 0:41:02Even the way of indicating direction is different.
0:41:04 > 0:41:09All the Western maps here are north to south.
0:41:09 > 0:41:11The one thing you see on every map is north.
0:41:11 > 0:41:14We didn't really care about the north,
0:41:14 > 0:41:18we only cared about is west because that's where everything goes.
0:41:18 > 0:41:21That's where the sun goes down, where the stars goes down,
0:41:21 > 0:41:22where the wind blows.
0:41:24 > 0:41:26This map is the result of a clash, isn't it,
0:41:26 > 0:41:28between two different ways of navigating?
0:41:28 > 0:41:30There's a Polynesian way of navigating
0:41:30 > 0:41:34and then there's the Western method that Cook uses
0:41:34 > 0:41:38and they're in a sense colliding with each other.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41They both work, but you can't really put them together, can you?
0:41:41 > 0:41:46No. The Polynesian state of mind is totally opposite to the Western one.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49We don't go anywhere, we stay where we are
0:41:49 > 0:41:52and the island comes to you, or your destination comes to you.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55So in Western navigation, we go to the island,
0:41:55 > 0:41:59but in Polynesian traditions the island comes to you.
0:41:59 > 0:42:03You don't move. The canoe don't move, it's your centre, it's where you are.
0:42:03 > 0:42:08And if we look at this map, what's significant about it?
0:42:08 > 0:42:11The scale, for example, on the map
0:42:11 > 0:42:16is not related maybe to the real scale of the geographic place,
0:42:16 > 0:42:19but maybe related to the importance of the place.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22Like Rotuma is drawn really big,
0:42:22 > 0:42:28but it does echo in a lot of legends, myths and stories.
0:42:28 > 0:42:33So, it is big in history, not in width or height.
0:42:33 > 0:42:34It's like a code.
0:42:34 > 0:42:37If you don't have the key, you won't understand the message.
0:42:39 > 0:42:42Tupaia's map is an extraordinary document,
0:42:42 > 0:42:43and not only for what it shows
0:42:43 > 0:42:47about Tupaia's deeply ingrained knowledge of the Pacific Islands.
0:42:49 > 0:42:53Despite the great scientific leaps forward in the West,
0:42:53 > 0:42:57Tupaia's map shows us that other cultures had different but equally
0:42:57 > 0:43:02effective ways of navigating their way across the Earth's surface.
0:43:18 > 0:43:20Back in England, the drive to make maps
0:43:20 > 0:43:24with greater scientific accuracy was proceeding with military efficiency.
0:43:27 > 0:43:32In 1784, here on Hounslow Heath, the army was taking up the challenge of
0:43:32 > 0:43:36mapping Britain under the leadership of Major General William Roy.
0:43:39 > 0:43:43Roy would use the same technique of triangulation as the French.
0:43:43 > 0:43:44So the accuracy of his map
0:43:44 > 0:43:47depended on the accurate measurement of a baseline.
0:43:53 > 0:43:55General Roy was on Hounslow Heath
0:43:55 > 0:43:59here, taking a measurement, a very precise measurement,
0:43:59 > 0:44:01which would be the basis of the survey
0:44:01 > 0:44:04that they would do to cover the whole of the country.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06So they only need the one line to begin with?
0:44:06 > 0:44:10Critically, yes. The distances which were calculated
0:44:10 > 0:44:15across the country were based on this one measurement at the start.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17To reduce the risk of error,
0:44:17 > 0:44:22Roy had to measure a straight line at least 8km long.
0:44:22 > 0:44:25The line was actually roughly measured
0:44:25 > 0:44:28with a chain similar to this.
0:44:28 > 0:44:33This one is only a 20 metre chain. The one that Roy had was 100ft chain.
0:44:33 > 0:44:38It weighed about 18 pounds and you had five men to actually use it.
0:44:38 > 0:44:41So five people would be dragging this out
0:44:41 > 0:44:43rather than just the two of us.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46Yes. Pulling this 27,000 feet.
0:44:46 > 0:44:50Let's see if we can unravel it without getting some kinks in it.
0:44:50 > 0:44:52OK. What do we do with kinks?
0:44:52 > 0:44:55- We have to get rid of them.- Oh, dear.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59- So we'll have to... That's better. It's looking better.- OK.
0:45:02 > 0:45:06That's right. Sit your end of the chain against the marker point.
0:45:06 > 0:45:09Yep.
0:45:09 > 0:45:13And then you would come to this point and we would proceed along the baseline.
0:45:13 > 0:45:15OK.
0:45:15 > 0:45:19With the real chain, soldiers would have repeated the process
0:45:19 > 0:45:23nearly 300 times to establish the path of the baseline.
0:45:23 > 0:45:25OK. That's about right.
0:45:25 > 0:45:27I can see my point behind you.
0:45:27 > 0:45:32- You are on line, so if you could mark the spot, please?- OK.
0:45:32 > 0:45:36Roy then used 20 ft wooden poles to make a more accurate measurement.
0:45:36 > 0:45:41But, in the British climate, wood proved to be an unreliable tool.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44On wet days it expanded, on dry days it shrank.
0:45:47 > 0:45:50Roy came up with a new solution -
0:45:50 > 0:45:53a set of glass rods mounted on tripods.
0:45:53 > 0:45:57To advance across the base, they would have then set up another tripod
0:45:57 > 0:46:01and they would have inserted another piece of glass
0:46:01 > 0:46:03and butted it to the end of this one here.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06Then they would have just kept moving across the base.
0:46:06 > 0:46:08So it's the same principle as with the chains,
0:46:08 > 0:46:10but it's just more accurate?
0:46:10 > 0:46:11That is correct, yes.
0:46:11 > 0:46:16The glass was much more stable than the wooden rods were.
0:46:16 > 0:46:19They didn't go out of true in the same way and they could have
0:46:19 > 0:46:23confidence that their measurement across this base was much better
0:46:23 > 0:46:27and the precision that they were looking for.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31The measurement of the all-important baseline
0:46:31 > 0:46:33took over four months to complete.
0:46:39 > 0:46:42The same line formed the basis of the first
0:46:42 > 0:46:44British Ordnance Survey map,
0:46:44 > 0:46:45which covered the area
0:46:45 > 0:46:48all the way from London to the south coast in Kent.
0:46:59 > 0:47:01A memorial to William Roy's work
0:47:01 > 0:47:03can still be found at the end of his historic line.
0:47:09 > 0:47:10It's rather weird to find
0:47:10 > 0:47:13this strange monument to our nation's mapping heritage
0:47:13 > 0:47:16here at the end of a suburban cul-de-sac
0:47:16 > 0:47:18on the outskirts of London.
0:47:18 > 0:47:20The upended cannon reminds us
0:47:20 > 0:47:24of the Ordnance Survey's origins in the military.
0:47:24 > 0:47:25And here is a plaque
0:47:25 > 0:47:30commemorating the achievements of Major General William Roy.
0:47:30 > 0:47:31And it describes the fact
0:47:31 > 0:47:35that "he conceived the idea of carrying out the triangulation
0:47:35 > 0:47:40"of this country and of constructing a complete and accurate map
0:47:40 > 0:47:44"and therefore laid the foundation of the Ordnance Survey."
0:47:44 > 0:47:49And it also describes the measurement of the baseline
0:47:49 > 0:47:51between King's Arbour and Hampton Poor House
0:47:51 > 0:47:57as measured by Roy - 27,404.01ft,
0:47:57 > 0:48:00which is just over 8km.
0:48:00 > 0:48:02We now know that was only about three inches out.
0:48:02 > 0:48:05Not bad going, really.
0:48:10 > 0:48:13Thanks to William Roy's vision and determination, the whole of Britain
0:48:13 > 0:48:17would be mapped using some of the most accurate measurements on Earth.
0:48:33 > 0:48:34By the early 20th century,
0:48:34 > 0:48:37the surveying of the rest of the world was underway
0:48:37 > 0:48:39and just like Britain and France,
0:48:39 > 0:48:42each nation took a different approach to the task.
0:48:48 > 0:48:52As a result, there was a bewildering range of map-making styles using
0:48:52 > 0:48:56different scales, symbols and languages.
0:48:57 > 0:48:59But a bold new initiative set out
0:48:59 > 0:49:03to create a map that could be understood by everyone.
0:49:06 > 0:49:09It was called the International Map of the World.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12International, because each country would create a map
0:49:12 > 0:49:16of its individual territory according to agreed standards.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19There would be 2,500 maps
0:49:19 > 0:49:23and when they were all put together they would depict the entire world.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26At a conference in Paris in 1913,
0:49:26 > 0:49:3134 nations agreed to create a comprehensive series of regional maps
0:49:31 > 0:49:35on a universal scale of one to a million.
0:49:35 > 0:49:38They would be known as the Millionth Maps.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45This is the millionth map of the South Coast of England.
0:49:45 > 0:49:49This one shows North-Western America around San Francisco.
0:49:52 > 0:49:54Both these maps look rather different
0:49:54 > 0:49:58and that's mainly because of the varying terrain that they both show.
0:49:58 > 0:50:00But there are also many similarities.
0:50:00 > 0:50:03Greenwich is the prime meridian and relief is marked
0:50:03 > 0:50:08by contour lines whose height is all measured in metres.
0:50:08 > 0:50:11The colours are also completely standardised here,
0:50:11 > 0:50:17so the roads are all in red, the railways are in black.
0:50:17 > 0:50:20And, of course, the scale on this map is one to a million.
0:50:22 > 0:50:26Each country would adopt the same set of standards
0:50:26 > 0:50:29in the spirit of international co-operation.
0:50:30 > 0:50:34The combined result would be a standardised map of the world
0:50:34 > 0:50:38that was intended to transcend national differences.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41But not every nation had the power and resources needed
0:50:41 > 0:50:45to send surveyors into the unmapped territories of the world.
0:50:47 > 0:50:51This shows the areas mapped according to the principles
0:50:51 > 0:50:55and standards of the International Map of the World by the mid-1920s.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58It's a fascinating snapshot of the world at that time,
0:50:58 > 0:51:03and not only because it shows where had been mapped, but also by whom.
0:51:03 > 0:51:08All these areas in Africa, at the time under French colonial rule -
0:51:08 > 0:51:14Morocco, Algeria, Niger, Chad - are all mapped by the French.
0:51:14 > 0:51:20Over in Indonesia, Dutch dominions here are mapped by the Dutch.
0:51:20 > 0:51:24The British Empire, marked on the map here as GB,
0:51:24 > 0:51:27is also mapping its own imperial territories.
0:51:27 > 0:51:31Most of India here is mapped by GB.
0:51:31 > 0:51:35Whole parts of East Africa, Southern Africa
0:51:35 > 0:51:37and also parts of the Middle East.
0:51:41 > 0:51:45Despite the project's best intentions, the Millionth Maps
0:51:45 > 0:51:48were being used to further the imperial interests of the West.
0:51:50 > 0:51:53By the outbreak of World War I, the project's original spirit
0:51:53 > 0:51:56of international co-operation was fading away.
0:52:00 > 0:52:02Far from transcending national differences,
0:52:02 > 0:52:06the International Map of the World became an extension of them.
0:52:19 > 0:52:22Up to 40% of all of the developing world's national borders
0:52:22 > 0:52:27were defined and mapped by the British or the French.
0:52:27 > 0:52:30Flushed with victory after the First World War,
0:52:30 > 0:52:35they would use maps to consolidate their power in the Middle East.
0:52:38 > 0:52:42For centuries, the region between Mesopotamia and Saudi Arabia
0:52:42 > 0:52:44had been a land without fixed frontiers,
0:52:44 > 0:52:49as this British army map from 1907 illustrates.
0:52:49 > 0:52:52This is a map without divisions and boundaries.
0:52:54 > 0:52:57What it shows is the movement of nomadic Arab tribespeople
0:52:57 > 0:52:59across this whole region.
0:52:59 > 0:53:01So if you look in the bottom left corner,
0:53:01 > 0:53:04you have the Shammar. This is generally their region,
0:53:04 > 0:53:08but they're also described as wintering up here.
0:53:08 > 0:53:12So this is the movement of peoples being shown in a very fluid way
0:53:12 > 0:53:16without any linear boundaries imposing restrictions upon them.
0:53:23 > 0:53:27I belong to the Shammar tribe and the region of north Arabia
0:53:27 > 0:53:30was predominantly populated by nomadic tribes
0:53:30 > 0:53:32with their own territories.
0:53:35 > 0:53:41But these territories, we can not describe them as rigid or fixed.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44They had fluctuating boundaries.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47These tribal groups would travel all the way up to the north
0:53:47 > 0:53:51in search of pasture and water, but in the very, very hot months
0:53:51 > 0:53:53they would actually retreat, either near oasis
0:53:53 > 0:53:57or go even further, to a cooler climate.
0:53:58 > 0:54:04So migration in that part of the world was a common feature of life.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire
0:54:09 > 0:54:12after the First World War, the victorious European powers
0:54:12 > 0:54:16decreed that a new nation state was to be carved out of Mesopotamia.
0:54:16 > 0:54:18It would be called Iraq.
0:54:23 > 0:54:28The border between Iraq and Saudi Arabia was decided by two men
0:54:28 > 0:54:30at a conference in 1922.
0:54:32 > 0:54:35Sir Percy Cox of the British Colonial Office
0:54:35 > 0:54:38had an uncompromising approach.
0:54:38 > 0:54:40He wanted to draw a line straight through the desert.
0:54:42 > 0:54:47For Ibn Saud, the King of Saudi Arabia, this was an alien concept.
0:54:49 > 0:54:52Ibn Saud argued that to impose linear boundaries
0:54:52 > 0:54:56upon his tribespeople was completely unsuitable
0:54:56 > 0:54:58because it didn't work for the way in which they moved
0:54:58 > 0:55:02and they transmigrated across this whole space.
0:55:02 > 0:55:06What he suggested instead was to keep the boundaries fluid
0:55:06 > 0:55:08and to keep them open.
0:55:10 > 0:55:14This idea of making a map to reflect fluidity and openness
0:55:14 > 0:55:16was mocked by the British.
0:55:16 > 0:55:20This is an eyewitness account written about the conference
0:55:20 > 0:55:21by one of the translators.
0:55:21 > 0:55:24"At a private meeting, at which
0:55:24 > 0:55:29"only Sir Percy, Ibn Saud and I were present, he lost all patience
0:55:29 > 0:55:33"over what he called the childish attitude of Ibn Saud
0:55:33 > 0:55:35"in his tribal boundary idea.
0:55:35 > 0:55:39"It was astonishing to see Ibn Saud being reprimanded
0:55:39 > 0:55:43"like a naughty schoolboy by His Majesty's High Commissioner,
0:55:43 > 0:55:46"and being told sharply that he, Sir Percy Cox,
0:55:46 > 0:55:51"would himself decide on the type and general line of the frontier.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54"Sir Percy took a red pencil
0:55:54 > 0:55:59"and very carefully drew in on the map of Arabia a boundary line."
0:56:05 > 0:56:09So from that moment, these local tribal population,
0:56:09 > 0:56:14brothers, lineages or clans, would find themselves divided.
0:56:14 > 0:56:17Some of them would be part of Saudi Arabia,
0:56:17 > 0:56:18others would have become Iraqis,
0:56:18 > 0:56:21and yet another branch would have become Kuwaitis,
0:56:21 > 0:56:24and they could not continue as animal herders
0:56:24 > 0:56:28and therefore the animal economy collapsed because nomadism
0:56:28 > 0:56:31was definitely based on the seasonal migration.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34So economically, yes, the region was affected.
0:56:34 > 0:56:40But in addition, networks of hospitality, of trust and solidarity,
0:56:40 > 0:56:42all that had to vanish.
0:56:47 > 0:56:49The precision of enlightenment science
0:56:49 > 0:56:51had combined with the rule of Empire
0:56:51 > 0:56:56to make a map with the power to destroy an ancient way of life.
0:56:58 > 0:57:01Map makers throughout history
0:57:01 > 0:57:04have created wonderful windows on the world,
0:57:04 > 0:57:07and Western science has provided the tools
0:57:07 > 0:57:11to make modern maps more accurate than ever before.
0:57:11 > 0:57:13But the mapping of Iraq is a stark reminder
0:57:13 > 0:57:18that maps can also be devastating tools of political power,
0:57:18 > 0:57:22and we are still living with the consequences to this day.
0:57:27 > 0:57:30In the next programme, maps show the way to heaven,
0:57:30 > 0:57:33provoke prejudice,
0:57:33 > 0:57:36and bend the world out of shape.
0:57:45 > 0:57:48Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:57:48 > 0:57:51E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk