Mapgeekery

December 11, 2004 1:17 AM

That hole in the backyard would not have gone to China. In fact, most of MeFi's readers would have ended up causing quite a leak. With so many 2d projections out there, who can blame us? There is always this introduction to map projections. You can then make your own projection or your own globe. At least it's not as hard as a 2d spacetime map of the universe (with relativity!).
posted by ontic (18 comments total)

Cool! I am digging my way to Spain.. Yeeha!

I like maps. But I still am not really sure what the world looks like. Since I found out about the Peters Projection I have been very distrusting of maps (thanks a lot Aaron Sorkin!).
posted by sycophant at 2:17 AM on December 11, 2004

an alternate point of view about the peters projection
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 2:52 AM on December 11, 2004

hey, let's not leave out the "no distortion" dymaxion projection of buckminster fuller.
posted by zombiejesus at 2:54 AM on December 11, 2004 [1 favorite]

I like the Gnomonic projections as a cube net. I'll need to get that into Illustrator later, clean it up and make my world cube.
posted by jackiemcghee at 3:21 AM on December 11, 2004

Nice post. That first link is from the site of Wendy Carlos, who deserves attention for other reasons as well.
posted by sklero at 3:27 AM on December 11, 2004

[This is good]

Yup - looks like you Kiwi's are coming here to Spain, but those of us in Eastern Spain have still got a bit of a swim on our hands before we can go bungy-jumping!
posted by benzo8 at 4:21 AM on December 11, 2004

According to that 2D spacetime map if I dig deep enough I'll pop out of Uranus!

/excellent, excellent humour. Thank you.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 7:57 AM on December 11, 2004

That first link is quite interesting -- I'd known in a general sort of way that the "other side" from most places was ocean, but it's striking to see how true that is: the only substantial chunks of land opposite each other are Patagonia and a piece of eastern China and Mongolia.

And the "2nd projection" link taught me the word graticule, "the lines of latitude and longitude on the globe." So thanks, ontic!
posted by languagehat at 8:10 AM on December 11, 2004

If you think you can get the Mole People to agree to let you pass through their territory you're out of your mind.

Believe me, I've tried.

Excellent post, btw
posted by filmgoerjuan at 8:31 AM on December 11, 2004

languagehat: graticule is also the term for the fine lines, forming a grid or a scale, etched in a piece of glass placed in the eyepiece of a microscope so as to appear in the same plane as the speciment being viewed. Also called "reticle".
posted by Turtles all the way down at 8:31 AM on December 11, 2004

There's a flawed assumption that when I dig my hole to China, I will dig straight down, through the center of the Earth. That would be foolish.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 9:08 AM on December 11, 2004

Besides, with the earth spinning, the coriolis effect and all, your tunnel would be curvy. Hell, you could dig all day and all night and come up a couple of feet away from where you started.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:42 AM on December 11, 2004

Wow, this is great. I've been working on a grad school project on maps myself, and it's really interesting to see someone else's research on the subject...
posted by 40 Watt at 9:59 AM on December 11, 2004

Well I was digging at an angle...
[Great post]
posted by togdon at 11:34 AM on December 11, 2004

Slightly related: That first map reminded me of that old math insight that at any given time there are at least one set of antipodal points that are at the -exact same- temperature and elevation. Works for any two quantities as long as they are continuously varying.
posted by vacapinta at 5:50 PM on December 11, 2004

I love the soundtrack to Clockwork Orange. This map makes me like Wendy Carlos just a little bit more.

I never realized how similar Australia and the U.S. are in both size and shape.
posted by painquale at 10:35 PM on December 11, 2004

Damn, yet another reason Anna Ng and I still have not walked in the glow of each other's majestic presence.

But, if I dig a hole from Chile, I end up in China. Nice symmetry that. Chile to China.
posted by piskycritter at 6:58 AM on December 12, 2004

If there's one good thing to say about the Peters Projection, it's this: it really brought to light some of the failings of the Mercator Projection. The geography community agrees that the Mercator Projection has 'fallen out of favour'. Good for them. Now they should tell the rest of the world, like nearly every classroom teacher in North America.
posted by raedyn at 10:31 AM on December 13, 2004