Glennalicious: Cartographilia

March 07, 2007

Cartographilia

When I was a kid, I loved studying maps. Probably my favorite gift EVER was the 1981 National Geographic Atlas. I loved looking at the detail and multiple layers of complexity. I remember taking it on car trips. I would draw my own maps, extrapolating the growth of cities to predict what they would look like in 50 years. I was 10-11 years old. Yes, I was THAT NERDY.

My friend Allen just showed me this amazing website called Worldmapper.

Take the normal representation of the world:

Now, make it all stretchy and have it represent various data of the world.

This is GDP wealth for the world.

This is military spending.

Here's one where Africa figures prominently. What is the stat? War deaths in 2002.

Not all are wildly depressing. This one is tourist destinations.

I am SO using this in one of my classes.

Posted by G at March 7, 2007 09:48 PM

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Comments

You should check out Gapminder. Amazing visualization of data.
http://tools.google.com/gapminder/

Posted by: Jim Lootens at March 7, 2007 10:31 PM

I love maps, geography, especially historical maps. Next time you're in Barnes and Noble or your favorite bookstore, look up the "State of the World Atlas." It has all kinds of maps like that, including categories like human rights, voting rights, women's rights, and even gay rights.

Posted by: Mike at March 8, 2007 12:56 AM

Nifty site, thanx for posting it! I can see how it can be used in some classes.

Posted by: Lee at March 8, 2007 06:58 AM

I'm also a maplover. When Google Earth first came out I wasted soooo much time on it. Now I GoogleMap everything.

this website is too cool. I wish my teachers were as innovative as you. But then, I wish we had internet when I was in school too.

Posted by: MzOuiser at March 8, 2007 10:38 AM

Ok, I have a secret Map Fetish. I always have loved Maps. As a kid I would draw them, trace them, etc. Thanks for this posting. Brightened up my day.

Posted by: Silly Billy at March 8, 2007 02:33 PM

Very cool! I also LOVE maps. Everytime a National Geographic magazine with a map came when I was a kid, I'd tack it up on my wall. Then I used to invent my own airlines and put route systems on the map using yarn and thumbtacks. And you thought you were a nerd.

Posted by: Andy at March 8, 2007 03:24 PM

I love maps too. That site is really cool! As kids we used to draw maps of made up worlds on huge pieces of paper in our basement. Even now, I'll pore over a map for weeks before a car trip or what have you. How else would one know not to miss the "Big Musky Bucket" if it weren't for a map?

Posted by: Kevin at March 8, 2007 07:55 PM

I wasn't THAT NERDY, but I have always loved maps. I was talking with a friend about decorating my house when I moved in and I said, "And I put my globe on the table by the couch . . ." and he said, "Did you just say globe?" Yeah, doesn't everyone have one?

Posted by: Long Story Longer at March 8, 2007 11:32 PM

I love atlases.

Posted by: Randy McDonald at March 10, 2007 01:41 AM