A synchronoptic view is a

graphic Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of the data, as in design and manufa ...

display of a number of entities as they proceed through time. A synchronoptic view can be used for many purposes, but is best suited as visual displays of

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

. A number of related

timeline A timeline is a list of events displayed in chronological order. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events. Timelines can use any suitable scale representing t ...

s can be drawn on a single chart, showing which events and lives are contemporary and which are unconnected. A synchronoptic view has important

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

al advantages. Visible information is much more easily learned, than when it is presented only in pure text form.

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

is an ideal subject for a synchronoptic view. Multiple

s are able to show how events interacted. Multiple lifelines can show which people were contemporaries.
See example
A combination of maps is also synchronoptic when it displays successive moments in time.

Etymology

The

concept A concept is an abstract idea that serves as a foundation for more concrete principles, thoughts, and beliefs. Concepts play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied within such disciplines as linguistics, ...

in question is made

visual The visual system is the physiological basis of visual perception (the ability to detect and process light). The system detects, transduces and interprets information concerning light within the visible range to construct an image and buil ...

— hence ''optic''. The elements are displayed synchronously: i.e., which events in one area happened at the same time as events in another seemingly unrelated area. Thus ''synchron-optic''. Synchronoptic also means visible at the same time", or "with parallel views". i.e., The user gets a view of all the information in one go.

Carte chronographique

Jacques Barbeu-Dubourg Jacques Barbeu-Dubourg (12 February 1709 – 14 December 1779) was a French physician, botanist, writer, translator and publisher known for translating Benjamin Franklin's work into French and for inventing a gentlemen's umbrella fitted with a l ...

(1709–1779) was the first to develop a synchronoptical visualisation with his ''Chronographie universelle & details qui en dependent pour la Chronologie & les Genealogies'' (1753) abbreviated to ''Carte chronographique''. The chronograph chart consisted of 35 prints which were designed to be stuck together in a row, enabling 6,500 years to be represented in . The horizontal axis representing the passage of time was consistent throughout, but the vertical axis was varied depending on the categories Barbeu-Dubourg considered relevant for that period of history.

References

External links

Hyper History Online
A good example of a synchronoptic view of history
Adams Synchronological Chart
Chronology Visualization (graphics) {{time-stub

Etymology

Carte chronographique

See also

References

External links