“Introduction: The grid is often referred to as Cartesian, but Descartes
\nnever really constructed a grid. He invented a coordinate
\nsystem that later came to be defined by a graph that we now
\nrefer to as a \u201cgrid.\u201d1 Descartes\u2019 first discussion of a coordinate
\nsystem is anecdotal. It appears in his Discourse on
\nMethod, which begins with an observation about architecture
\nand spatial planning. During a stay in Germany,
\nDescartes considered the difference between an emergent
\nurban space and a planned one:
\n. . . those ancient cities that were once mere villages [and have] in
\nthe course of time become large towns are usually so poorly laid
\nout, compared to those well-ordered places that an engineer traces
\nout on a vacant plain . . . upon seeing how the buildings are
\narranged \u2013 here a large one, there a small one \u2013 and how they
\nmake the streets crooked and uneven, one would say that it is
\nchance rather than the will of some men using reason that has
\narranged them thus.” Log<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/gallery\/atlaswebpublications\/MacapiaLog10.jpg\")
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