GIS, the acronym that shapes your life
By: Audrey Hermans
Tags: Geography, Postal Code, GIS, Zip Code, Postal Database

Roger Tomlinson was an English geographer referred to as the “father of GIS”. He created the first computerized geographic information system in 1968 and coined the term “geographic information system” (GIS).

But what exactly is GIS? It comes in many shapes and names. Vector or raster, abstract or literal, it is made of two major components: geographic and geodesic information.

Geodesy, also known as geodetics, describes the surface of the Earth. In other words, geodesy is the science of accurately measuring and understanding three of Earth’s fundamental properties: its geometric shape, orientation in space, and gravitational field.

The history of geodesy began in the pre-scientific antiquity with Eratosthenes, a Greek polymath who demonstrated that the Earth was a sphere in 300 BC.

Pythagoras, Plato and Aristotle had hinted at it before Eratosthenes, but no one so far had found a way to accurately measure it until the Philologos (Eratosthene’s nickname) came up with the math to prove it.

What about geography then ?

Geography describes the Earth’s land forms, oceans, environment and ecosystems, as well as the interactions between the human society and their environment. The word geography literally means “earth writing”.

Together, Geodesy and geography open the door to a mass of data that can be stored into different formats, grouped under the name “GIS” by its creator, English geographer Roger Tomlinson. To put it simply, applications that use GIS sort the data so that a user can extract the information relevant to his research.

GIS data helps countless different types of people, from individuals to businesses and governments. The analysis of GIS data facilitates transport between cities, it makes possible autonomous navigation, supports agriculture, facilitates space exploration and contributes to protecting people against recurrent hazards such as floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters.

Many businesses use geodetic data to evaluate their position on the market, enhance customers experience on their websites, reach their worldwide clients faster and more efficiently, or provide powerful apps to their users.

Interestingly, GIS data has also been picked by teachers for its educational and mind opening properties. Think about it: this is data about the real world, which defines the Earth we live on. It can easily be linked to subjects such as biodiversity, climate, renewable energy sources and other trendy topics. Moreover, it combines numbers, geometry and science notions! In classrooms, GIS is ideal to illustrate mathematical concepts like statistics, modelling or density per area, but also to teach small kids orientation, shapes and spacial relations in a very stimulating way.

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GeoPostcode’s datasets contain numerous data in various GIS formats which can easily be imported into any software or database management system. Check our website www.geopostcodes.com

Sources:

GISlounge

Ocean Service

GISresources.com

Wikipedia — Geodesy

Worldatlas.com

www.nap.edu

GISgeography.com

Wikipedia — Roger Tomlinson