In Memoriam William Warntz, 1922–1988 Donald G. Janelle Department of Geography, University of Western Ontario illiam Warntz was a pioneer in mathe- geographers were aware that it was occurring, he matical approaches to spatial analysis. had already published some of the classic papers WHe attempted to bridge the divide be- of the quantitative revolution. He also was an tween mathematics and the spatial repre- avid scholar on the history of geographic thought sentation of phenomena, leading to significant and devoted the later part of his career to identi- contributions in theoretical geography. An untir- fying the origins of spatial analysis, including ar- ing advocate of the systems view of geography, he chival studies on the possible contributions of Sir sought to identify principles of spatial organiza- Isaac Newton to the development of geography tion that were common to phenomena in both (1989). physical and human geography. He saw geogra- phy as a general science of locations, with descrip- tive geography describing locations, regional Origins of a Spatial Scientist geography classifying them, and theoretical geog- raphy predicting them. Mathematics was the key William Warntzwas born on October 10,1922, to Bill’s early contributions. Indeed, before most in Berwick, Pennsylvania, in a coal mining area, eighty miles up-river from Harrisburg, on the Susquehanna. His father,Sterling Adrian Warntz, was a superintendent in a local industry that manufactured railway passenger cars, and his mother, Lilian Grey Warntz, was a teacher. Bill spent much of his boyhood playing baseball, prac- ticing on the trombone, and reading, passions that he nurtured throughout his life. At the din- ner table, he would entertain his two sisters, brother, and parents, asking question after ques- tion about geography and history, or posing geo- metrical puzzles for solution. Education in liberal arts at Berwick School (1936–1940) prepared him for undergraduate work in economics. His education was inter- rupted, however,by six years in the U.S. Army Air Force (1943–1948). In 1943, he entered the Avia- tion Cadet College Training Detachment at Al- bion College in Michigan, where he soloed in a Piper Cub and played on the football team. This was followed in 1943–1944 by a series of Air Force flight and navigation schools that took him across the country, studying cartography, meteorology, and radio. Service as a navigator with the heavy bombardment group in England earned him the Purple Heart, three battle stars, and several other Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 87(4), 1997, pp. 723–731 ©1997 by Association of American Geographers Published by Blackwell Publishers, 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, and 108 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1JF,UK. 724 Janelle decorations. Injured in a crash landing of a B-24 Economics at the University of Pennsylvania that limped back to England after incurring dam- (1949–1956). It was his appointment as research age from enemy fire, Warntz was stationed in associate and administrative assistant to the Di- Cambridge for recuperation. This allowed fre- rector (Charles B. Hitchcock) of the American quent visits to Cambridge University, where his Geographical Society in New York (1956–66), fascination with the papers of Sir Isaac Newton however, that opened the engagement between took his mind off the war and encouraged his the broader community of geographers and his pursuit of educational goals. imaginative mind. Among his published accom- Following the war, in 1946, Warntz was as- plishments while at AGS were Geography Now signed to the Newfoundland Base Command for and Then (1964), an insightful documentation of duty in sea search-and-rescue missions. Events in the changing geography curricula in American Newfoundland had lifelong personal and profes- colleges from colonial days to the 1950s, and sional significance for him. In 1947 he met and two innovative books—Toward a Geography of married A. Minerva Mosdell in Saint John’s. Price (1959), an extension of his dissertation, Soulmates in their love of music, art, and history, and Macrogeography and Income Fronts (1965). they had two children, Christopher and Pamela. These books draw seemingly disparate interdis- Interest in things geographical were heightened ciplinary connections (meteorology, econom- by a fortuitous discovery of a book by John Q. ics, and geography) and skillfully combine Stewart in the base library at Gander. In what cartography with mathematical constructs. appeared to be a strange deviation from the prin- The latter book explains and predicts with un- cipal theme of Coasts Waves and Weather, Stewart canny accuracy the geographical patterns of (1945) applied Newton’s gravitational concept to U.S. population and wealth through the last studying geographical patterns of population. decade of this century. This insight set the stage for a lifelong friendship, A less well-known achievement while at AGS mentorship, and collaboration with Stewart, who was a 200-hour spare-time construction of a was at Princeton. three-dimensional map showing population po- Warntz completed the B.S. in 1949, the A.M. tential of the U.S.—a special AGS exhibit on in 1951, and the Ph.D. in 1955, all three degrees “New York: An International City” for the in economics from the University of Pennsylva- 1964–1965 New York World’s Fair (AGS 1964). nia. Before the Ph.D., his curiosity for geographi- With patience and precision, he hammered more cal questions arose independently of much formal than 3,000 nails (one for each county) onto a contact with geography. Recognizing this, he in- board measuring 2 × 3.25 feet, in preparation for terrupted the Master’s program in economics (a a sculptor to cover with plaster. This outreach to minor in geography) to take part in McGill Uni- the public with geography was common in versity’s 1950 summer course in geography at Warntz’s career. He wrote articles for local news- Stanstead, Quebec. Discussions there, with Ken- papers, spoke before local geography societies, neth Hare, Trevor Lloyd, Dudley Stamp, Edward prepared television seminars on an “Introduction Ullman, and others stimulated questions about to Geography” (22 hours for WCAU in Philadel- the history of geography. phia in 1964) and on “Geography, Concepts and Although his Ph.D. was in economics, his the- Applications” (13 hours for WHDH in Boston in sis advisor was Lester E. Klimm, an economic and 1968), and assisted local school boards and teach- military geographer, who became President of the ers with geography curricula. Association of American Geographers in 1958. During his time with AGS, Warntz lived with Warntz’s thesis on The Geography of Price in- his family in Princeton, New Jersey. In 1957, he volved thousands of calculations to derive popu- joined Stewart’s Social Physics Project as a re- lation potential fields, all with a mechanical search associate in the Department of Astro- adding machine. Physical Sciences at Princeton. He was a frequent visiting lecturer in Geography at Hunter College and at Rutgers University, and in Regional Sci- An Engagement with Geography: ence at the University of Pennsylvania. In addi- AGS and Princeton, 1956–1966 tion, he supervised two Ph.D. dissertations at Columbia University (David Neft in Statistics Warntz’s first academic position was as an in- and Michael Woldenberg in Geography). The structor/assistant professor in Geography and daily commutes by train between New York and William Warntz 725 Princeton were opportunities for reflection and branching systems. Many of his younger associ- reading, and also time for drafting Geographers ates and students atHarvardare nowmajorcon- and What They Do (1964), an introduction to the tributors to developments in geographic discipline for school-age readers. information systems (GIS) (for example, Roger Jointly, Stewart and Warntz pioneered re- Dangermond). search on the population potential of the U.S. and Located in the basement of Memorial Hall, in on general concepts of what Warntz described as an area once occupied by B. F. Skinner’s behav- macrogeography. Their extensions of the gravity ioral-science pigeon coop, the Laboratory for model continue to serve the practical needs of Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis became marketing researchers. This collaboration with a center of innovation. Students had ready access Stewart, the opportunities to take part in the to his cardboard boxes, piled deep with the latest development of the regional science discipline, papers from Brian Berry, Leslie Curry, Michael and the experiences with the American Geo- Dacey, Bill Bunge, Peter Gould, Walter Isard, graphical Society were, for Warntz, possibly the Gunnar Olsson, and WaldoTobler,among others. most enjoyable period of his career. He com- Serendipitous insights flowed from frequent, in- mented frequently about the joy of working with, formal and, usually, enthusiastic rap sessions, and his great respect for, his AGS associ- punctuated by occasional musical jams, with Bill ates—Charlie Hitchcock, Wilma Fairchild, on the tuba, Lance Benson on dulcimer, Geoffrey David Lowenthal, and Mait Miller. Dutton on concertina, and Mike Woldenberg on guitar. Warntz introduced and edited the important The Harvard Years, 1966–1971 Harvard Papers in Theoretical Geography (1966–1971). He and his colleagues published In 1966 Warntz became professor of Theoreti- imaginative work in this series, including lengthy cal Geography and Regional Planning in Harvard monographs on map projections, and applica- University’s Graduate School of Design (GSD) tions of topological theorems and field quantity and joined the research team in the Laboratory theory. His trinity of “Geography, Geometry, and for Computer Graphics. The Lab was set up by Graphics” attained its most pronounced develop- Howard T. Fisher, the originator of SYMAP, one ments while at Harvard. True to his historical of the first general computer-mapping programs, interests, he drew inspiration from early Egyptian with support from the Ford Foundation. Warntz’s and Greek scholars, searching for precedents of appointment was intended to provide strong in- spatial order.