Jacques Bertin (27 July 1918 – 3 May 2010) was a French

cartographer Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

and theorist, known from his book ''Sémiologie Graphique'' (''Semiology of Graphics''), published in 1967. This monumental work, based on his experience as a cartographer and geographer, represents the first and widest intent to provide a theoretical foundation to

Information Visualization Data and information visualization (data viz/vis or info viz/vis) is the practice of designing and creating Graphics, graphic or visual Representation (arts), representations of a large amount of complex quantitative and qualitative data and i ...

,Juan C. Dürsteler (2000-08)
Interview with Jacques Bertin
Retrieved 23 June 2008. with his most lasting contribution being his set of visual variables that can be used to construct

map symbol A map symbol or cartographic symbol is a graphical device used to visually represent a real-world feature on a map, working in the same fashion as other forms of symbols. Map symbols may include point markers, lines, regions, continuous fields, ...

s and other graphical techniques one of then being the Bertin Projection, an innovative

map projection In cartography, a map projection is any of a broad set of Transformation (function) , transformations employed to represent the curved two-dimensional Surface (mathematics), surface of a globe on a Plane (mathematics), plane. In a map projection, ...

type, or to seriate them (the Bertin Matrix). Visionscarto-bertin1953

Biography

Jacques Bertin was born in 1918 in

Maisons-Laffitte Maisons-Laffitte () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the northern Île-de-France Regions of France, region of France. It is a part of the affluent outer suburbs of northwestern Paris, from its ...

Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207. Finally he ended up studying

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

and

cartography Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

at the Sorbonne. He became founder and director of the Cartographic Laboratory of the

École pratique des hautes études The (), abbreviated EPHE, is a French postgraduate top level educational institution, a . EPHE is a constituent college of the Université PSL (together with ENS Ulm, Paris Dauphine or Ecole des Mines). The college is closely linked to É ...

(EPHE) in 1954 and director of studies (directeur d'études) in 1957. In 1967 he became professor of the Sorbonne, and in 1974 he became director of studies and director of the Geographical Laboratory of the

École des hautes études en sciences sociales The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (, EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The school awards Master and PhD degrees alone and conj ...

(EHESS), which is part of the École pratique des hautes études (EPHE, VIe Section). Later in the 1970s he became head of research at the

Centre national de la recherche scientifique The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 eng ...

(CNRS). In 1993 Bertin received the "Mercator-Medaille der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Kartographie"Satzung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Kartographie e.V.
. Retrieved 1 July 2008. and in 1999 the Carl Mannerfelt Gold Medal from the

International Cartographic Association The International Cartographic Association (ICA) (, ''ACI'') is an organization formed of national member organizations, to provide a forum for issues and techniques in cartography and geographic information science (GIScience). ICA was founde ...

. Bertin died in Paris on 3 May 2010.

Publications

Jacques Bertin has published numerous scientific maps, papers and articles on map making, semiology, graphical information and graphic processing. * 1967. ''Sémiologie Graphique. Les diagrammes, les réseaux, les cartes''. With Marc Barbut t al. Paris : Gauthier-Villars. (Translation 1983. ''Semiology of Graphics'' by William J. Berg.) * 1969. ''Etude et réalisation d'un dispositif de goniométrie et d'observation de formes d'onde, en large bande.'' * 1976. ''Experimental and Theoretical Aspects of Induced Polarization''. 2 vol. With J. Loes. Berlin : Gebruder. Borntraeger. * 1977. ''Graphique et le traitement graphique de l'information''. With Serge Bonin t al. * 1977. ''La graphique et le traitement graphique de l'information''. Paris : Flammarion, 1977, 273 p. (translation 1981. ''Graphics and graphic information-processing'' by William J. Berg and Paul Scott). * 1992. ''Harper atlas of world history''. with Pierre Vidal-Naquet. N.Y. : HarperCollins. * 1997. ''Atlas historique universel. Panorama de l'histoire du monde''. With J. Devisse, D. Lavallée and J. Népote. Genève : Éd. Minerve, 180 p. * 2006. ''Nuovo atlante storico Zanichelli / sotto la direzione di Pierre Vidal-Naquet; direzione della cartografia''.

References

External links

Interview with Jacques BertinJacques Bertin's Semiology of GraphicsGraphische Variablen im UMN MapServer

Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales page for Bertin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertin, Jacques 1918 births 2010 deaths People from Maisons-Laffitte University of Paris alumni Academic staff of the École pratique des hautes études French cartographers French geographers Information graphic designers Data and information visualization experts