Ceci n'est pas une pipe and Harry Beck: When is a map not a map ... and does Harry Beck's diagram have wargaming potential?

One of my favourite paintings by René Magritte – the Belgian surrealist painter – is 'The Treachery of Images' (In French, 'La Trahison des images').

It is often referred to by its alternative – and probably better known – name of 'This Is Not a Pipe/Ceci n'est pas une pipe' ... and it depicts an image of a pipe with the words 'Ceci n'est pas une pipe' underneath the image.

What I like about it is the fact that the painting conveys an apparent paradox! To the casual observer, it looks like a pipe ... but the actuality is that – as the words underneath the image state very clearly – it isn't a real pipe.

Now what on earth has this to do with wargaming?

Bear with me; things will become clear ... I hope!

Back in 1931, Harry Beck designed a schematic diagram of the London Undergound network ... and if you ask the internet to find a map of the London Underground, a modern version of Harry Beck's design will appear.

Harry Beck's original 1931 diagram of the London Underground network.

Perhaps it ought to have 'Ce n'est pas une carte/This isn't a map' underneath it?

The Cambridge Dictionary defines a map as being 'a drawing of the earth's surface, or part of that surface, showing the shape and position of different countries, political borders, natural features such as rivers and mountains, and artificial features such as roads and buildings' and the Collins Dictionary states that it is 'a physical or digital image of a particular area such as a city, a country, or a continent, showing its main features as they would appear if you looked at them from above'.

By these definitions, Harry Beck's diagram is not a map. You certainly could not navigate your way around London's roads using it as the actual geographic positions of the underground stations is very different from their relative positions on Harry Beck's diagram. For example, this is the section of Beck's diagram showing the section of the tube from Earls Court in the west to Waterloo in the east and Queens Road in the north to West Brompton in the south.

Here is the same section of the London Underground superimposed on a road map of the same area. (N.B. the colours used to designate the different tube lines is different.)

Bearing in mind that most of the tube lines shown were constructed using the 'cut and cover' method and followed the route of existing roads. the differences are very noticeable.

As an aside, according to Transport for London (TfL), the average time it takes to travel between stations on the London Underground is 2.5 minutes ... so, by counting the number of stations between one's starting point and end point and multiplying by 2.5, you can calculate the approximate journey time from one station to another.

So, what has all this to do with wargaming?

One style of wargaming 'map' is the point-to-point one, like this ...

A point-to-point map of the area around the Battle of Waterloo. The travel time between each of the places on the map is approximately the same ... and the geographical positions of each is correct.

... and it seems to me to bear more than a passing resemblance to Harry Beck's design ... especially if you add a colour code to the different parts of the road network!

So, could Harry Beck's design – and the many similar designs used across the world – form the basis of a point-to-point wargame campaign map? I think so ... and if I get time, I may explore this idea further.