Jacques Bertin passed away in May 2010. He published three significant books: Semiology of Graphics (1967), The Graphics and Graphic Information Processing (1977), and Atlas of World History (1997). They represent three stages of his works, namely the semiotic approach, the map as a process, and cartographic discourse. The author of this article (a PhD student in Bertin's laboratory in the mid-1970s) has monitored Bertin's achievements for about 40 years. Bertin's theories may be easier to apply in the digital information era and may help to create the ideal image of today's cartographer: that is, a 'complete cartographer'.