A calculative cosmography: Geodesy and absolute space

Abstract

Visual signifiers of absolute space such as grids, points, and straight lines are often identified with absolute space as a concept, to the extent that critiques of one are taken to apply to the other. This article argues that this is a misidentification that forecloses attention to meaningful dimensions of the coordinate grid while muddling the concept of absolute space. Attending to the geodetic science that gives rise to these visual signifiers shows that the space they are used to construct is entirely relational, and that the mythless rationalism with which they and absolute space are commonly associated can be productively questioned through attention to geodesy’s performative and cosmological implications. This raises the question of how we might better understand absolute space. The suggested answer is a cosmological claim that can be pursued and pictured but never realized. Absolute space is absolute as a sovereign can be: neither empirically nor visually, but as a motivating idea that presents itself as an explanation.