Stochastic Processes and the Geometry of the Early Renaissance
Portolan Chart What the historian of cartography should be
concerned with is a systematic study of the factors effecting
error, and seek to establish their cause and variability and the
statistical parameters by which error is characterized... When
one is considering trying to model the accuracy of the Medieval
and Renaissance Portolan chart it is useful to reflect upon what
types of data might have been used in order to construct these
charts, such as the one from around 1300-1320, shown below and
which is part of the collections of the Geography and Map
Division at the Library of Congress. If we assume that these
charts are simply graphic displays of information measured by
sailors and navigators we can ask ourselves what type of
information might have been used in the charts construction and
what is the statistical error that might reside in such
measurements?. Any model of measurement that includes
measurement instruments, such as the compass