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Representations of Space and Time by Donna J. Peuquet, The Guilford Press, New York, 2002, xii + 380 pp. cloth US$45.00 (ISBN 1-57230-773-0)
One legacy of the burgeoning role of geographical information science (GISc) is that the spatial and temporal database representations currently in use have been developed mainly in response to practical needs. As such, their development has emphasised issues relating to implementation, with scant reference paid to any underlying theoretical framework. Furthermore, many representations are derivatives of data models borrowed from other fields such as geometry and cartography. In geographical information systems (GIS), the dominant representation is based on the cartographic model in which geographic space is modelled indirectly through the medium of the map. There is an increasing recognition that such representations shape both our questions and analyses. For example, the static nature of the cartographic model is partly responsible for the avoidance of space-time dynamics in GIS. These limitations become increasingly important as we struggle to make sense of the increasing volume of heterogeneous environmental information accumulating in computer networks worldwide. Clearly, new representations need to be developed.
It is a major premise of Peuquet's book that computer-based, spatial-temporal representations should be informed by human cognition. Both internal and external computer forms should correspond to each other and to cognitive representations, thus facilitating the translation between the two, as well as human-computer interaction (H-C). Only when the speed, accuracy and recall of the computer are combined with the pattern recognition, information filtration, generalisation capabilities, insight and imagination of humans will the true potential of GIS be realised.
In pursuit of her goal, Peuquet divides her book into two (unequal) parts, possibly reflecting her belief that the balance in H-C interaction, which was tipped heavily in the computer's direction, be reversed. Part I examines fundamental philosophical issues concerning the nature of both space and time and the nature of spatial knowledge before discussing theoretical approaches to the cognitive representation of geographic space. Part II considers...