I'm not sure why, Buckminster Fuller's dymaxion map[^0] always seemed so cool to me, would love to have something more like that. Though it's not "equal area", but the "no preferred direction" and the fact that it could be unfolded in many ways so no place is really privileged, sounds also a kind of fairness.
Why does it have to be a single continuous map at all?
Couldn't we use multiple circular projections centered at different latlongs? We'd give up continuity at the seams, but at least every region could be shown close to the center of the projection with little distortion. I would certainly prefer that in an educational setting (drawing the globe from ~6 different latitudes onto a 2d map should be sufficient).
And when drawing a map on the computer, the projection should be centered on whatever part of the globe is currently at the center of the screen.
I really like this square world map which has very interesting properties, made by a small french non-profit for educational purposes: https://nuees.net/planisphere/
I don't think they have an english version of the site yet, but Youtube does an ok job at auto-translating the explaining https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10rY7y5ys-g
(it fucks up every other thing, but you get the overall meaning)
The first map on that page is a classic #mapswithoutnz. New Zealand (Aotearoa) IS in the full pdf version, though what did we do to get put in the naughty corner?
I think it's there in the top-left corner (though unmarked like quite a few places on there), but that "first" map is only a preview for the actual map. If you've watched the video, you know with a pair of scissors you don't have to stay in the corner, and could even pretty much be the center of the world! :)
The Web thing which lets you drag a country or economy over any other and see how Mercator stuffs up their relative sizes is brilliant for getting a sense why people want this.
Like a lot of "colour the empire pink" schooled people (yes right up to the 60s and 70s that map was used in uk schools) I somehow I gained an initial impression NZ and JP were tiny.
> The Web thing which lets you drag a country or economy over any other and see how Mercator stuffs up their relative sizes is brilliant for getting a sense why people want this.
I started to respond saying 25 years was too high but West Wing S02E16 "Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail" aired February 28, 2001... Damn, so it's been _over_ 25 years ago since that the episode aired.
I'm not sure why, Buckminster Fuller's dymaxion map[^0] always seemed so cool to me, would love to have something more like that. Though it's not "equal area", but the "no preferred direction" and the fact that it could be unfolded in many ways so no place is really privileged, sounds also a kind of fairness.
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dymaxion_map
Why does it have to be a single continuous map at all?
Couldn't we use multiple circular projections centered at different latlongs? We'd give up continuity at the seams, but at least every region could be shown close to the center of the projection with little distortion. I would certainly prefer that in an educational setting (drawing the globe from ~6 different latitudes onto a 2d map should be sufficient).
And when drawing a map on the computer, the projection should be centered on whatever part of the globe is currently at the center of the screen.
Kinda pointless. Mercator is standard for marine and aviation. For education, they can just use a globe.
Kind of hard to hang a globe on a wall in a satisfactory manner.
Let's be real here, they're all gonna get viewed on a screen.
Then be extra real and recognize that some American schools cannot afford screens on razor-thin budgets.
You can do both
You've got to start somewhere with these things, where better than the UN?
I really like this square world map which has very interesting properties, made by a small french non-profit for educational purposes: https://nuees.net/planisphere/
I don't think they have an english version of the site yet, but Youtube does an ok job at auto-translating the explaining https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10rY7y5ys-g (it fucks up every other thing, but you get the overall meaning)
The first map on that page is a classic #mapswithoutnz. New Zealand (Aotearoa) IS in the full pdf version, though what did we do to get put in the naughty corner?
I think it's there in the top-left corner (though unmarked like quite a few places on there), but that "first" map is only a preview for the actual map. If you've watched the video, you know with a pair of scissors you don't have to stay in the corner, and could even pretty much be the center of the world! :)
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The Web thing which lets you drag a country or economy over any other and see how Mercator stuffs up their relative sizes is brilliant for getting a sense why people want this.
Like a lot of "colour the empire pink" schooled people (yes right up to the 60s and 70s that map was used in uk schools) I somehow I gained an initial impression NZ and JP were tiny.
> The Web thing which lets you drag a country or economy over any other and see how Mercator stuffs up their relative sizes is brilliant for getting a sense why people want this.
It's called "The True Size Of..." https://thetruesize.com
And indeed it's a brilliant tool.
Obligatory West Wing “Organization of cartographers for social equality” clip: https://youtu.be/eLqC3FNNOaI?si=jpC37W8688qXu-Fb
(Part of an episode of an American TV show from about 25 years ago)
I started to respond saying 25 years was too high but West Wing S02E16 "Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail" aired February 28, 2001... Damn, so it's been _over_ 25 years ago since that the episode aired.
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