INTRODUCTION
I recently put up a post about the book “No Need to Ask!”, which deals with the development of the London Underground map before Henry C Beck. Today I deal with the the other half of the story of London Underground’s maps, as told in “Mr Beck’s Underground Map”.
THE PROBLEM WITH STANDARD MAPS
This picture from the back of “Mr Beck’s Underground Map” illustrates one of the problems that showing London Underground on a geographical map has – the vast spread of the system which means that any such map has to be huge for the central area not to be hopelessly compressed…
Since some distortion is therefore virtually inevitable in order for the central area of the map to be usable, the question then arises of how to make the map work.
THE BIRTH OF A LEGEND
Henry C Beck, an engineer and very skilled draftsman, decided that it was time to abandon any pretence of geographical mapping for London Underground. Here is a preliminary sketch…
Although Mr Beck’s employers did not think the public would accept anything so radical, he kept on at them until they agreed to the experiment, using this map…

Not for the first or last time, public support for something radical had been grossly underestimated, and the map was a big hit almost from the moment it first appeared.
THE CHANGING SHAPE OF THE MAP
As well as extensions, new lines and on occasion cut backs, methods of representing things changed down the years, as this series of pictures shows…







THE BECK MAP GOES INTERNATIONAL
Schematic diagrams are now used worldwide to represent public transport systems. This was Mr Beck’s own effort with the Paris Metro (circa 1946)…
AND FINALLY
Mr Beck’s Underground Map can be obtained from the London Transport Museum for £12.95.