John Parr Snyder: Pioneer of a New Age of Historical GIS

This presentation will explore how John Parr Synder, initially trained as a chemical engineer, made an everlasting impact by ushering a new age of cartography and geography. His application of the Space Oblique Mercator Projection (SOM) allowed mapping of satellite imagery with unparalleled accuracy for the time in the 1970s. His two seminal works examining the history of the cartography and cartographers of New Jersey integrated historical geography, leading to a nuanced analysis of the growth of the state from a Dutch colony to a major urban center. His early research informed his work to develop Landsat satellite imagery, which spearheaded technological and conceptual improvements and generated new forms of data and maps that help us understand the geographic nature of the earth. This presentation will explore how his cartographic past shaped and influenced his mathematical modeling and application of the SOM projection, laying the foundation for early computer cartography.