White spot
A white spot is colloquially an unknown, unexplored, undeveloped area (cf. also Terra incognita ). This is the abbreviated form of the phrase “a white spot on the map”. The “white spot” is often used as a metaphor for an unknown area of knowledge.
cartography
White spots are by no means a typical feature of old maps. Although large parts of the earth's surface were unexplored in the early epochs of cartography , these areas were seldom left blank on the maps. The horror vacui of the cartographers led to ornamentation, imaginary mountains or mythical creatures filling the places about which no geographical knowledge was available. It was only in the 19th century , when strictly scientific claims became more important than the artistic aspect of the map, that the "ignorance" was also systematically represented in the form of white areas. Such areas were mostly in the interior of Africa , but towards the end of the 19th century only in the polar regions . However, since glaciated regions are also shown in white and the polar regions were only recorded on a small scale , it was no longer an obvious feature.
With the invention of the airplane and later with earth observation satellites , the last unknown areas could be opened up. Not to forget the 71% of the earth's surface that is covered by oceans. The ocean floor could only be systematically mapped with the help of the echo sounder in the middle of the 20th century .
Figurative sense
In the meantime, the term is largely only used in a figurative sense. In many infrastructure networks (e.g. railways, communication), areas that have not yet been covered are referred to as white spots, the most prominent example being cell phone reception . White spots are also used for areas that are underdeveloped in terms of technology or the economy. Colloquially, one speaks of “white spots on the map of knowledge” with regard to knowledge gaps in humans.
literature
- Lutz Röhrich: Lexicon of the proverbial sayings, Freiburg 2003