For specialists and non-specialists alike, maps are one of the central ways that the environment becomes visible and comprehensible. Since the 1960s, both the practice and the values of environmental mapping have been transformed by new algorithmic methods for turning point-by-point measurements into a smooth cartographic image, especially when visualizing the invisible geographies of pollution, climate change, and underground resources. The resulting maps are now ubiquitous. This article argues that algorithmic methods—especially those created by a small group of French mining engineers and installed widely in software by the 1990s—shifted the values and meaning of environmental mapping away from a traditional concern with qualitative realism to a new emphasis on quantitative accuracy. This was a shift not just in the goals of mapping but in the kind of environment that maps ultimately construct. The prioritization of accuracy should therefore not be seen as a straightforward improvement, as its associated values raise difficult conceptual problems, both historical and historiographic, about scale, expertise, and the role of human judgement in the creation of environmental fact. Historicizing the techniques and meanings of mapping is especially important as environmental historians consider new geospatial methods—including algorithmic methods—in their own work.

中文翻译：

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准确性陷阱：算法制图的价值和意义，从矿产开采到气候变化

对于专家和非专家而言，地图是使环境变得可见和可理解的核心方式之一。自 1960 年代以来，环境制图的实践和价值都已通过新的算法方法转变，将逐点测量转换为平滑的制图图像，尤其是在可视化污染、气候变化和地下资源等无形地理时。由此产生的地图现在无处不在。本文认为算法方法——尤其是那些由一小群法国采矿工程师创建并在 1990 年代广泛安装在软件中的方法——将环境测绘的价值和意义从传统的对定性现实主义的关注转变为对定量准确性的新强调. 这不仅是制图目标的转变，也是制图最终构建的环境类型的转变。因此，准确性的优先级不应被视为一种直接的改进，因为其相关价值提出了关于规模、专业知识和人类判断在创造环境事实中的作用的历史和史学方面的困难概念问题。当环境历史学家在他们自己的工作中考虑新的地理空间方法（包括算法方法）时，将绘图的技术和意义历史化尤为重要。以及人类判断在创造环境事实中的作用。当环境历史学家在他们自己的工作中考虑新的地理空间方法（包括算法方法）时，将绘图的技术和意义历史化尤为重要。以及人类判断在创造环境事实中的作用。当环境历史学家在他们自己的工作中考虑新的地理空间方法（包括算法方法）时，将绘图的技术和意义历史化尤为重要。