For almost as long as we have been writing, we’ve been putting meaning into maps, charts, and graphs. Some 1,300 years ago, Chinese astronomers recorded the position of the stars and the shapes of the constellations. The Dunhuang star maps are the oldest preserved atlas of the sky:

More than 500 years ago, the residents of the Marshall Islands learned to navigate the surrounding waters by canoe in the daytime—without the aid of stars. These master rowers learned to…