maps

version

Well-known member
This one's incredible. A map of the Mississippi over time,

mapas-7.jpg
 

Slothrop

Tight but Polite
Going for walks during lockdown, I've got weirdly obsessed with this topographic map of the UK:

I think that what makes it interesting is that it re-scales the vertical axis as you drag and zoom, so rather than just having most of South East England labelled as "flat", you can zoom in and see the little micro-ridge systems that underly all the small inclines that you notice North London or Cambrigeshire or wherever.
 

jenks

thread death
Going for walks during lockdown, I've got weirdly obsessed with this topographic map of the UK:

I think that what makes it interesting is that it re-scales the vertical axis as you drag and zoom, so rather than just having most of South East England labelled as "flat", you can zoom in and see the little micro-ridge systems that underly all the small inclines that you notice North London or Cambrigeshire or wherever.
It’s the kind of detail that you notice when cycling- the ridges and folds of the land that travelling in a car flattens out. Also most of my routes are quiet roads and lanes - the tracks that have essentially been pathways forever as opposed to bulldozed A roads. That sense of a link between history and geography is particularly strong once you get away from towns and into the country.
 

jenks

thread death
Remember seeing one of these at a British Museum exhibition looking at ideas about memory:

"The rebbelib were used for centuries, but they're not particularly good as a visual map. They're not to scale, and someone unfamiliar with this type of map would have trouble using one to navigate. And that's because the important information contained in the map isn't the location of the islands. The bamboo sticks that make up the frame also represent ocean currents and wind patterns, which Marshallese sailors use as navigation guides."





Micronesian_navigational_chart.jpg
 
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