Abstract
Maps are especially known for their capability to provide insight in geographic patterns and trends. Maps do this well because they only present a selection of the complex reality and visualize it in an abstract way. But today they have many more roles to play. They should also be seen as flexible interface to geospatial data, since they offer interaction with the data behind the visual representation and additionally maps are instruments that encourage exploration. As such they are used to stimulate (visual) thinking about geospatial patterns, relationships, and trend in the world of Geosciences. Irrespective of during which moment in the Geoscience process the maps used, together with other graphics and supported by geo-computational methods they lead to decisions of all kinds.