Waldo R. Tobler, professor emeritus of Geography, famed cartographer and founder of the first law of geography, passed away on February 20, 2018 at the age of eighty-eight.  Some of you might remember Waldo Tobler.  I remember his work while studying Geography and GIS in college many years ago.

Waldo Tobler trained as a mathematical cartographer, and is best known for his contributions to that field.  He coined the term “analytical cartography” to reflect the combination of mapping and analysis.  He was also responsible for the statement known as Tobler’s First Law of Geography, “all things are related but nearby things are more related than distant things”, a somewhat offhand comment in an early paper that has proven to be enormously important in the development of geographic information science.

Click here and here for more information about Waldo Tobler.