Geoscience Reference
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On synthesis, we cannot have the elements on superposition or juxtaposition
anymore, but their fusion in “types”. This means that, regarding maps, it is possible
to identify groupings of places, paths or areas—as elementary spatial units of obser-
vation—characterized by groupings of attributes or variables (Rimbert
1968
; Bertin
1973
,
1977
;Martinelli
1998
,
2003
,
2005
,
2011b
, Martinelli and Ferreira
1995
).
To explain what synthesis reasoning is, it was borrowed an experimental piece of
work done by Gimeno (
1980
). Its aim was to discover which groupings could be
formed in a set of 42 elementary data: seven objects related to six attributes. The
following diagram shows the transition of the analytic moment; where, in a matrix,
each object relates to one or more attributes; to the synthesis moment, achieved
with reiterated permutations between columns and rows of the matrix, revealing
three groups of objects characterized by three groups of attributes. This is the
revealed information (Fig.
7.2
).
Synthesis cartography can be done by an assorted gamma of methods that were
being developed together with an accurate search, involving qualitative, ordinate or
quantitative data, on a static or dynamical appreciation, by employing entities like
points, lines and areas.
Thus, according to the objectives and established fields of study, basically three
main groups can be pondered: traditional superposition and manual combination of
many analytic thematic maps, graphic methods and statistic-mathematic methods.
The triangular graph method will be considered here due to its intrinsic simplic-
ity. It is employed on a particular case in synthesis cartography, the one which
searches for the representation of the “types” of specific ternary structures on space,
that is, for variables formed by three collinear components. In this way, such
Fig. 7.2 The transition from analytic to the synthesis reasoning
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