J Allan Patmore on the use of the Atlas

"The atlas is as much the repository of the basic facts of place as the dictionary is of words: how much of that repository should remain within the reference work, and how much should be held in the mind of the individual as part of his inherent working equipment? 
We all have recourse to the dictionary on occasion, but our basic, working vocabulary is more than adequate for all normal needs without its aid. The same can rarely be said of the atlas, even among students and teachers of geography. 
This applies not only to more esoteric places, but even to the basic lineaments of familiar countries, familiar not only through proximity and personal visits, but through frequent study in the school syllabus."

Source
Patmore, J. (1980). Geography and Relevance. Geography, 65(4), 265-283. Retrieved August 26, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40570301

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