Reflections on 'On Exactitude in Science by Jorge Luis Borges'

In this micro-story, a generation of cartographers pursues their art to such an extreme that they produce a map as vast and detailed as the empire itself. Later generations, concerned only with its utility, abandon it as useless.

This reflects the tension between perfection and usefulness in representation: a model approaching total fidelity risks becoming indistinguishable from reality—and therefore useless.

Vocabulary Reference

• exactitude (n.) - the quality of being precise or accurate.
• cartography (n.) - the science or practice of drawing maps.
• unconscionable (adj.) - not right or reasonable.
• guild (n.) - a medieval association of craftsmen or merchants, often having considerable power.
• forebear (n.) - an ancestor.
• inclemency (n.) - the quality in weather of being unpleasant, especially with cold wind and rain
• tattered (adj.) - old and torn; in poor condition.
• relic (n.) - an object surviving from an earlier time, especially one of historical or sentimental interest.