Women have been mapping the world for centuries – and now they’re speaking up for the people left out of those maps
- Written by Melinda Laituri, Professor Emeritus of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Colorado State University
Gladys West, right, developed the mathematical models behind GPS.U.S. Navy/Wikimedia CommonsAlthough women have always been part of the mapping landscape, their contributions to cartography have long been overlooked.
Mapmaking has traditionally featured men, from Mercator’s projection of the world in the 1500s to land surveyors such as...

