“Beck introduced the idea of abandoning geography entirely in order to present the ever-expanding underground network as a circuit diagram.” — Scott Christianson, 100 Diagrams that Changed the World
Here’s a tiny version of the BART map that you’ll probably use when you travel around the Bay Area. Note that it’s far from geographically accurate — it’s not to scale and the actual lines are much curvier than shown. In fact, all the lines here are straight: vertical, horizontal or at 45 degrees. And for that, we can thank Harry Beck (1902-’74), engineering draftsman at the London Underground Signals Office in the early 1930s.
Until then, the lines of the London Underground — “the Tube” — were faithfully overlaid on fainter maps showing main thoroughfares, landmarks, department stores and hospitals. The problem was, they were too detailed — accurate, but not user-friendly, especially for visitors encountering the labyrinthal system for the first time. Beck realized that what people unfamiliar with the system really wanted was an easy way to navigate the system from, say, their hotel in West Kensington to the British Museum. (Change at South Kensington and again at Leicester Square, and you’ll end up at Goodge Street, a couple of blocks from the museum.) Beck later said he was inspired by the electrical circuit diagrams he created for his day job. By stripping away the sprawl of the Tube network and substituting neat, colored lines with interchange stations clearly marked, Beck transformed the lives of commuters and visitors alike.
It was a hard sell, though. His original 1931 version was deemed “too radical” by the Tube’s publicity department, but they relented within a couple of years when a trial run showed that his clear, comprehensible pocket map was exactly what the traveling public wanted. Which is why you’ll instantly recognize Harry Beck’s influence the world over. Google “subway map” for just about any one of the world’s 200 subway systems from Paris to Shanghai to New York, and you’ll immediately see that those handy maps were modeled on Beck’s layout.
Since he wasn’t formally commissioned to develop his Tube map (Beck worked on it in his spare time), he wasn’t paid for his work, although one version of the story claims he was paid 10 guineas — about $120 today. He went on to develop maps for the UK rail system. Trivia: Beck’s Tube map didn’t quite win First Prize when the BBC asked viewers, What’s your favorite British Design? It came second, beaten only by Britain’s albatross of a supersonic passenger jet, the Concorde.
Barry Evans (he/him, barryevans9@yahoo.com) recommends a visit to the (Harry) Beck Gallery in the London Transport Museum (near Covent Garden Tube station) next time you’re in Blighty.
This article appears in Bitten.