Chapter Two:
GIS: Coming of Age
In 1854, John Snow, an English physician,
depicted a cholera outbreak in London using
points to represent the locations of individual
victim through a map, possibly the earliest use of
geographic information in epidemiology.
Source:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_information_system
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Snow_(physician)
His study of the distribution of cholera which
establishes relationship between the victims and
the water source, led to the source of the disease
– a contaminated water pump, thereby saving
many lives.
The first known use of the term "Geographic
Information System" was by Roger Tomlinson, a
Canadian, in the year 1968 in his paper "A
Geographic Information System for Regional
Planning".
Tomlinson is thus acknowledged as the "father
of GIS“, and the first GIS in the world was
developed in Canada during the end of 1960s.
Source:
1. http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/fall12articles/the-fiftieth-anniversary-of-gis.html
2. http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/fall12articles/origins-of-the-canada-geographic-information-system.html
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_information_system
The true potential of GIS was widely evident only with
the establishment of the first computer-based GIS in
1986, which also signified the beginning of modern
GIS.
The advancement of modern GIS empowers users to
capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and
present all types of geographical data in ever more
sophisticated ways.
Source:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_information_system
2. http://www.econsultsolutions.com/what-we-do/technical-apps/geospatial-analyses-gis/
3. http://www.geospatialtraining.com/blog/index.php/integrating-arcgis-and-google-earth-for-crime-analysis/
4. http://geospatial-solutions.com/the-new-age-of-real-time-gis/
Learn to think like John Snow…!
Establish relationship between each feature (or entity) on the left , and its attributes on the right:
A – Recreational Park
name, speed limit, number of lanes, starting point (X,Y)
B – Canal
name, monthly loan volume, membership, address
C – Expressway
block number, number of storey, postal code
D – MRT Station
name, length, width, depth, ending point (X,Y)
E – HDB
name, number of beds, address, number of wards
F – School
road name, company name, number of station
G – Hospital
name, number of berth, total service route, postal code
H – Library
name, area, year established, types of facility, road name
I – Petrol Station
name, address, year established, total enrolment
J – Bus Interchange
station name, number of exits, station code, postal code
Learn to think like John Snow…!
Establish relationship between each feature (or entity) on the left , and its attributes on the right:
A – Recreational Park ---
name, speed limit, number of lanes, starting point (X,Y)
B – Canal -------------------
name, monthly loan volume, membership, address
C – Expressway ----------
block number, number of storey, postal code
D – MRT Station -----------
name, length, width, depth, ending point (X,Y)
E – HDB ----------------------
name, number of beds, address, number of wards
F – School ------------------
road name, company name, number of station
G – Hospital ---------------
name, number of berth, total service route, postal code
H – Library -----------------
name, area, year established, types of facility, road name
I – Petrol Station ---------
name, address, year established, total enrolment
J – Bus Interchange -----
station name, number of exits, station code, postal code
Learn to think like John Snow…!
Establish relationship between each feature (or entity) on the left , and its attributes on the right:
A – Recreational Park ---
name, speed limit, number of lanes, starting point (X,Y)
B – Canal -------------------
name, monthly loan volume, membership, address
C – Expressway ----------
block number, number of storey, postal code
Notice the “location” element
– MRT Station ----------inDeach
feature’s attributes…?
E – HDB ----------------------
It is the critical info that helps
F – School -----------------display
a feature on the map

geospatial
“gene”…!
G –the
Hospital
---------------
name, length, width, depth, ending point (X,Y)
name, number of beds, address, number of wards
road name, company name, number of station
name, number of berth, total service route, postal code
H – Library -----------------
name, area, year established, types of facility, road name
I – Petrol Station ---------
name, address, year established, total enrolment
J – Bus Interchange -----
station name, number of exits, station code, postal code
Amazing isn’t it?
Almost everything that we associate with in our daily lives
have the geospatial genes!
Want to know more?
Let’s move on to the next chapter…!
