The Map Room

Another Look at the Linda Hall Library's Celestial Atlases

Jonathan Crowe — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:23:41 -0500

The Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering and Technology in Kansas City, Missouri gets a mention in the travel section of the New York Times (in an article on rare book collections that are accessible to the public) for its collection of celestial atlases. Via MapHist.

On past exhibitions of the Linda Hall’s celestial atlas collection: The Face of the Moon; Star Atlases; Celestial Atlases, Antique and Modern.

Another Look at the Linda Hall Library’s Celestial Atlases first appeared on The Map Room: A Weblog About Maps on November 14, 2009. Copyright © 2009 Jonathan Crowe. Distributed under a Creative Commons licence.

A Homemade Globe

Jonathan Crowe — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:15:12 -0500

Large globes can be kind of pricey; David Burwell built his own 20-inch globe using the Generic Mapping Tools datasets and a beach ball mold. Ingenious. Via Boing Boing and Make.

Geography Fail

Jonathan Crowe — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:45:19 -0500

The Fail Blog does maps, too.

Mapping School Innovation

Jonathan Crowe — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:39:38 -0500

A report by the Center for American Progress and the U.S. Chamber of Congress ranks states on the performance of their schools in eight categories of “innovation”; naturally, these grades have been put on an interactive map. Via Cartophilia.

U.S. Interstates as Tube Map

Jonathan Crowe — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:33:52 -0500

Check out Cameron Booth’s map of the U.S. Interstate Highway system in the style of a diagram (i.e., the London Tube map). Not the first time I’ve seen something like this, but this is a very, very good implementation. Thanks to Richard for the tip.

Previously: Interstate Highway Diagram.

GeoVation

Jonathan Crowe — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:58:07 -0500

GeoVation encourages people to create “great ideas based on geography,” which is to say, map mashups. There are two competitions: one for ideas, more than 100 of which have been posted so far; and one for ventures, which involves prize money. The competitions are backed by the Ordnance Survey and run until January 4, 2010. BBC News has more. Via geoparadigm.

Google Latitude Location History Creeps Out Valleywag

Jonathan Crowe — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:51:26 -0500

Valleywag thinks Google Latitude’s location history feature (previously) is creepy: “Google said it can now keep a detailed list of everywhere you go, play your trips back like movies and generate ‘alerts’ for unusual movements. Who wants this? The CIA? Nope: ordinary modern humans are asking to be tracked. Insane.”

Google Latitude Location History Creeps Out Valleywag first appeared on The Map Room: A Weblog About Maps on November 13, 2009. Copyright © 2009 Jonathan Crowe. Distributed under a Creative Commons licence.

30 Superb Infographic Maps

Jonathan Crowe — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:41:14 -0500

Webdesigner Depot’s 30 Superb Examples of Infographic Maps: “Map illustrations are a dime a dozen; however, a strong and balanced display of graphics, information, and colors is what makes an infographic stand out and reach its target audience effectively.” Via geoparadigm.

Strange Maps: Frank Jacobs Interviewed

Jonathan Crowe — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:31:49 -0500

More media coverage of Strange Maps, the book version of what is basically the most popular map blog out there: the Freakonomics blog interviews the book’s (and blog’s) author, Frank Jacobs.

Previously: Updates on Two New Books; Strange Maps, the Book, Coming Later This Month; Blogs into Books.

Buy Strange Maps at Amazon.com

Pacific Northwest Mapmaker Closing

Jonathan Crowe — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:36:55 -0500

Totem Publications, a Pacific Northwest publisher of detailed maps of obscure parts of Washington state, appears to be winding down, the Everett Herald reports. For certain parts of the state, the maps are “the only map game in town,” offering detail not available in competitors’ products.

The History of the ICHC

Jonathan Crowe — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:29:33 -0500

The International Conferences on the History of Cartography themselves have a history: this page is an index to pages on every conference since 1964; each conference page has a list of the papers presented, and some of them have photo galleries. Via MapHist.

Maps Without Legends

Jonathan Crowe — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:24:32 -0500

The Morning News has a different kind of map quiz: “We’ve removed the legends and all other telltale labels from the maps below, and challenge you to guess what each map depicts using only clues contained within the maps: the color-coding, names, landmarks, and whatever else you can detect. Here’s one clue to get you started: None of the maps represent gross national anything.” Via Maps-L.

Polar Maps of Enceladus

Jonathan Crowe — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:13:24 -0500

More maps of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, in the form of two polar stereographic maps released today for its northern and southern hemispheres. The maps are mosaics compiled from the best Cassini and Voyager images. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.

Previously: New Map of Enceladus.

Online Maps Miscellany

Jonathan Crowe — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:39:20 -0500

I should have waited: this Google LatLong post summarizes all the Street View updates: not only Hawaii and Mexico, but also Spain and the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, Latitude has added a couple of features: history and alerts.

Not to disrespect the Bing, which had some interface and feature upgrades announced yesterday.

Also, Hawaii

Jonathan Crowe — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:28:58 -0500

In addition to Mexico, Street View has also come to Hawaii.

The Grim Reaper's Road Map

Jonathan Crowe — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:18:13 -0500

The Grim Reaper’s Road Map: An Atlas of Mortality in Britain, which came out last year, “analyses over 14 million deaths over the 24-year period 1981-2004 in Britain. It gives a comprehensive overview of the geographical pattern of mortality,” including all deaths and deaths from a number of different causes. Examples of the maps can be found in this PDF excerpt (3.1 MB). Via geoparadigm.

Previously: The Death Map.

Buy The Grim Reaper’s Road Map at Amazon.com

Calendria

Jonathan Crowe — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:22:47 -0500

Like Cartophilia, designer Elizabeth Daggar sent me a copy of her unusual project, Calendria, the full title of which is the World Atlas of Calendria for the Year 2010 of the Common Era, as Observed and Faithfully Recorded by Electrofork. Liz calls Calendria “a calendar-as-world comprising twelve countries (months).” As she explains it on the project website, the map came together by overlaying North America and Europe, producing a strange map with familiar shapes: the Great Lakes flow into the Black Sea; Scotland pokes out of the northwest; the Persian Gulf is inverted as an island. The land mass is divided into 12 countries that are named after the months, with related toponyms following each month in a fanciful manner. Each country/month gets a calendar and history. The folded map (not quite an atlas) is available for sale (in a limited print run) on her Etsy page.

Google Maps Launches in Mexico

Jonathan Crowe — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:59:09 -0500

A Mexican version of Google Maps has launched; here’s Google’s announcement from last Friday (in Spanish). As Google Maps Mania also notes, Street View imagery has been added for seven cities in Mexico; that was supposed to have launched today, but I’ve checked Mexico City and Guadalajara and it’s not showing up for me yet.

Geocaching T-Shirts

Jonathan Crowe — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:42:41 -0500

Very Spatial points to an amusing geocaching t-shirt on Zazzle.com: “I use multi-million dollar satellites to find Tupperware in the woods. What’s your hobby?” A look at the t-shirt page’s recommendations reveals lots of other geocaching-themed t-shirts on the same site.

The First Thematic Maps

Jonathan Crowe — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:34:34 -0500

Zachary Forest Johnson provides “a quick outline of the first maps created with six common cartographic symbologies. … The six symbologies are the classic thematic cartography representation methods: choropleth, proportional symbol, dot density, flow, isarithmic, and cartogram.” Only one of them predates the 19th century.

New York Subway Map Quilt Fabric

Jonathan Crowe — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:08:19 -0500

Our latest example of map miscellany comes in the form of quilting fabrics with a pattern resembling a New York subway map from a quilt shop in New York City. Probably not for use in navigation. Via Very Spatial.

Rethinking Maps Reviewed

Jonathan Crowe — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:19:45 -0500

Jeff Thurston reviews Rethinking Maps: New Frontiers in Cartographic Theory, a collection of essays:

In summary, this book cuts a wide swath. It is not solely for cartographers or map makers. Rather, it is about the processes that motivate people to include maps into their daily lives, from the simplest forms to the more complex. The book brings to the forefront the idea that mapping is changing and that how we engage maps should be a consideration — continually. Rather than top-down hierarchies that push graphic content out into the wider world, Rethinking Maps picks us up and places us right in the middle of the process and hands us numerous ideas, thoughts and considerations to orient ourselves.

Previously: Rethinking Maps.

Buy Rethinking Maps at Amazon.com

Live Marine Traffic Maps

Jonathan Crowe — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:18:17 -0500

Since 2004, the International Maritime Organization has required all vessels of 300 or more gross tons to carry an AIS transponder, which transponder transmits position, speed and course and other information about the ship. MarineTraffic.com takes that data and plots it on a map. The data is updated every hour — close enough to real-time. Think about it: this is a near-real-time map of every ship on the planet above a certain size. Mind-boggling. Via Cartophilia.

Previously: ESA Maps European Shipping Routes.

Nunannguaq: In the Likeness of the Earth

Jonathan Crowe — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:58:15 -0500

At the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, north of Toronto, until January 17, 2010, an exhibition of Cape Dorset art: Nunannguaq: In the Likeness of the Earth:

In Inuktitut, the word Nunannguaq translates into “in the likeness of the earth,” which refers to a complex system used (like a map) to record ancient pathways. While travelling across the vast northern territories, the Inuit were guided by maps imprinted in the community’s collective memory rather than on skin or ivory. By using this type of ephemeral mapping, all travellers were encouraged to actively participate in the setting of directions and, in consequence, developed highly sophisticated skills to observe and instantly interpret the land. This ability to swiftly memorize visual forms strongly influenced the works of Inuit artists and was noted by several European explorers who sought out Inuit assistance in their mapping efforts. The historical Inuit maps displayed in Nunannguaq: In the Likeness of the Earth provides an important visual context to the early works of Cape Dorset artists.

The Toronto Star has more:

Ideas about objectivity — “the western approach to map making,” according to Anna Stanisz, the McMichael curator for “Nunannguaq” — are suspect when it comes to understanding Inuit mapping.

An Inuit map may “be about the metaphysical knowledge of a place, and not just the physical knowledge,” Stanisz continues. “With the changing nature of the snow texture, with only wind direction as an indicator, the true distance between one place and another has to be adjusted from day to day.”

Previous posts about Inuit mapping and navigation: Inuit Routefinding and Oral Tradition; Inuit Tactile Maps; Driftwood Map.

'A Significant Step Down in Quality'

Jonathan Crowe — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:18:04 -0500

Peter Batty weighs in on the quality of Google’s new, homegrown map data:

As anyone in the geo world knows, all maps have errors, and it’s hard to do a really rigorous analysis on Google’s current dataset versus others. But I think there is strong evidence that the new Google dataset in the U.S. is a significant step down in quality from what they had before, and from what Microsoft, Yahoo and MapQuest have (via Tele Atlas or NAVTEQ).

Google clearly hopes to clean up the data fairly quickly by having users notify them of errors. But looking at the situation, I think that they may have a few challenges with this. One is just that the number of errors seems to be pretty large. But more importantly, I think the question for Google is whether consumers will be motivated to help them fix up the data, when there are plenty of good free alternatives available. If Google gives you the wrong answer once maybe you let it slide, and perhaps you notice the link to inform them of the problem and maybe fill it out. But if it happens a couple of times, is the average consumer likely to keep informing Google of errors, or just say “*&#% this, I’m switching to MapQuest/Bing/Yahoo”?

Worth reading in full.

Previously: Too Soon?; Google Stops Using Tele Atlas in the U.S.

Children Map the World, Volume Two

Jonathan Crowe — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:06:14 -0500

Remember Children Map the World, the collection of maps from the biennial Barbara Petchenik Children’s Maps Competition? I blogged about it four years ago. Now there’s a second volume; whereas the first volume covered the first 10 years of the competition, volume two showcases 100 maps from the 2005-2007 competition. Press release.

Previously: Children Map the World: The Book.

Buy Children Map the World, Vol. 2 at Amazon.com
Buy Children Map the World, Vol. 1 at Amazon.com

Paris Underground

Jonathan Crowe — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:46:38 -0500

While browsing in, of all places, a science fiction bookstore, I stumbled across a new book by Mark Ovenden that looked quite interesting in the brief time I had to look at it: Paris Underground: The Maps, Stations, and Design of the Metro. Mark is, you will remember, the author of Transit Maps of the World, which I reviewed here in March 2008. Unlike most transit systems, the Paris Metro is something I’m quite familiar with, so I’m going to have to look into this.

Previously: Harry Beck’s Map of the Paris Metro; Review: Transit Maps of the World; Transit Maps of the World (Again); Transit Maps of the World.

Buy Paris Underground at Amazon.com
Buy Transit Maps of the World at Amazon.com

The Map as Art

Jonathan Crowe — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:19:38 -0500

The National Post takes a look at Katharine Harmon’s new book, The Map as Art: Contemporary Artists Explore Cartography, which I briefly mentioned back in August. Via AnyGeo.

Meanwhile, a related exhibition curated by Harmon along with Christopher Henry, also called The Map as Art, opens today at the Christopher Henry Gallery in New York, and runs until January 10, 2010.

Buy The Map as Art at Amazon.com
Buy You Are Here at Amazon.com

Mapping the Moon using Kaguya's Laser Altimeter Data

Jonathan Crowe — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:04:33 -0500

Here’s a map of the Moon generated by laser altimeter data from the Japanese lunar probe Kaguya, which has just been released. In this image, brighter/yellow is higher elevation, darker/red is lower elevation. This map is centred on the far side of the Moon, which obviously has some interesting stuff going on topographically. (Image credit: JAXA/SELENE.) On the Planetary Society’s blog, Emily Lakdawalla shows a bunch more of these maps, plus some examples of what happens when this data is mapped to a sphere using Celestia — including this video of a rotating Moon, which was generated not from imagery but from this altimeter data:

Previously: Kaguya’s Lunar Topo Maps.

Mapping the Moon using Kaguya’s Laser Altimeter Data first appeared on The Map Room: A Weblog About Maps on November 5, 2009. Copyright © 2009 Jonathan Crowe. Distributed under a Creative Commons licence.

New York Times Maps the 2009 Elections

Jonathan Crowe — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:48:57 -0500

The New York Times’s election results page has maps for the New York City mayoral and council races, plus the New Jersey governorship. Via Map Hawk.