When Topology Trumped Topography: Celebrating 90 Years of Beck’s Underground Map

Abstract

The year 1931 saw the inception of what has become arguably the world’s most successful cartographic design. Henry C. Beck, a technical draughtsman who had been laid off by the Underground Electric Railways of London (UERL), devised a new diagrammatic map of the network (Figure 1) in his spare time. Beck’s radical approach favoured topology over topography – connectivity over geographical fidelity – which he achieved primarily by straightening out the lines and limiting changes in their direction to 45° and 90°. Beck submitted a presentation copy (Figure 2) of his map to the board of the Publicity Office of the UERL that same year, and, although his solution was initially rejected as being too revolutionary (Garland, 1994), Beck re-submitted his design in 1932 and it was accepted. The map was eventually issued as a pocket edition in January 1933; its first print run of 750,000 copies reflecting the board’s new-found confidence in its design and an enthusiastic reception by the public secured a further printing of 100,000 copies in February and a poster edition in March (Dobbin, 2012).