Computers introduced previously untold degrees of precision into map production. Nowhere was this impact felt more poignantly, or with more devastating geographical consequences, than military conflict.
Especially in the years following World War II, the needs of the U.S. military significantly influenced how computer cartography developed. In turn, advancements in computer mapping technology produced new horizons for what the military could do. From the beaches of Massachusetts to the ghost shores of Elugelab, from the trails of a rocket to the shape of the earth after it explodes, the maps in this section explore how computer cartographers have leveraged spatial data to compute war.