top of page

Chronosequence in GeoSTEM

Ancient Roots of GeoSTEM (10,000 BCE – 476 CE)

 

  • 10,000 BCE – Neolithic Settlements

Early human agricultural settlements emerge, laying the foundation for land management and resource allocation, crucial for later cadastral surveys.

  • 1400 BCE – Musical Notation in Babylon

Babylonians document early music using symbolic notation, showcasing the role of record-keeping and communication in society.

  • 1000 BCE – Amazonian Cities Built

Ancient urban planning reflects early forms of geospatial organization, influencing later city design.

  • 6th Century BCE – Zoroastrianism Emerges

The world's first monotheistic religion creates cultural and territorial frameworks that integrate governance and space.

  • 130 BCE – Silk Road Opens

The Han Dynasty connects East and West through the Silk Road, requiring precise maps and geographic understanding for trade.

  • 476 CE – Fall of the Roman Empire

The collapse of the empire reshapes political boundaries, leading to the fragmentation of geographic knowledge.

​

Islamic Golden Age Innovations (8th–13th Centuries CE)

Islamic scholars preserve Greek knowledge and innovate across fields like astronomy, geography, and algebra.

 

  • 661-750 CE:  The Umayyad Caliphate

The Umayyads continued the Muslim conquests, conquering Ifriqiya, Transoxiana, Sind, the Maghreb and Hispania (al-Andalus), covering 11,100,000 km2 (4,300,000 sq mi), making it one of the largest empires in history in terms of area.

  • 750 CE:  The Abbasid Caliphate Overthrows the Umayyad Caliphate

The Abbasids overthrew the Umayyad dynasty in 750 CE in the Battle of the Zab.

  • 762 CE:  Baghdad is Built

Moving the capital to Baghdad in 762 CE, the Persian bureaucracy slowly replaced the old Arab aristocracy as the Abbasids established the new positions of vizier and emir to delegate their central authority.

  • 830 CE: Algebra is Invented

The treatise written in the year 830 by the medieval Persian mathematician, Al-Khwārizmī, whose Arabic title, Kitāb al-muḫtaṣar fī ḥisāb al-ğabr wa-l-muqābala, can be translated as The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing. The treatise provided for the systematic solution of linear and quadratic equations.

  • 1154 CE:  Tabula Rogeriana is invented

Commissioned by Roger II of Sicily around 1138, taking nearly 15 years to complete, the Tabula Rogeriana, as it is called in English, was made by Arab geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi.

  • 1258 CE:  The Mongols sack Baghdad, marking the end of the Gold Age for many historians.

This event was a turning point in history that changed the political and cultural landscape of the Middle East. 

 

Scientific Revolution and 18th–19th Century Innovations (1550–1900 CE)

​​

  • 1522 CE – Magellan’s Circumnavigation

The first complete voyage around the Earth advances maritime navigation and global geographic knowledge.

  • 1804 CE – Invention of the Railroad

Railroads transform regional economies, requiring synchronized time systems and precise maps.

  • 1844 CE – Invention of the Telegraph

Enables rapid communication across long distances, essential for coordinating mapping efforts.

  • 1854 CE – John Snow’s Cholera Map

This spatial analysis helps identify contaminated water sources, marking the birth of epidemiology.

  • 1903 CE – First Flight by the Wright Brothers

Aviation opens new avenues for aerial mapping and geographic exploration.

 

The Digital Age (1950s–1990s)

​​

  • 1959 CE – Sputnik Launches

Marks the beginning of the space age, leading to advancements in satellite-based Earth observation.

  • 1963 CE – GIS is Invented

Roger Tomlinson created the world's first computerized GIS, the Canada Geographic Information System (CGIS

  • 1969 CE – Man on the Moon

Lunar missions rely heavily on precise geospatial calculations and remote sensing.

  • 1972 CE – Launch of Landsat 1

Landsat revolutionizes environmental monitoring through satellite imagery. Early maps like the 1955-line maps evolve into digital imagery with greater precision.

  • 1973 CE – Invention of TCP/IP

Vint Cerf and Robert Kahn co-invented the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP) in 1973. These protocols became the foundation of the internet, leading them to be known as the "fathers of the internet"

  • 1989 CE – The World Wide Web is Invented

Berners-Lee outlined his vision for the WWW in a document called Information Management: A Proposal.  In April 1993, CERN put the WWW software in the public domain

 

21st Century Innovations (2000–Present)

​​

  • 2001 – Keyhole, the predecessor to Google Earth is Launched

Integrating AI with geospatial analysis allows predictive modeling for diverse applications. Drones and autonomous mapping systems enhance remote sensing capabilities.

  • 2004 – OpenStreetMap Launches

An open-source initiative democratizes geographic data, encouraging global collaboration in mapping.

  • 2007 – Apple Launches the iPhone

The launch of this smartphone opened up the era of mobile apps.  Beginning in 2008, the iPhone began shipping with the Google Maps app preloaded.  

  • 2016 – Pokémon Go is Released

This app by Niantic ushered in an era of consumer oriented augmented reality.

bottom of page