Hello, and welcome back to my blog! This week I will be sharing my 18 favorite maps from the book, All Over the Map: A Cartographic Odyssey, by Betsy Mason and Greg Miller. When I say favorite maps, that could mean an array of different things. For example, I could like a map because of its interesting history or its unique style. Why did I choose to do the random number of 12? Well, I wanted to make sure every type of map was included. This book has nine different categories of maps each with unique traits. Thus, each category is represented at least once. These maps are not in order from best to worst because that would be too hard to decide, but they are in a simple, chronological order. Without further ado, let's get started! #1: "A Pirate's Pilfered Atlas"(p.18) ![]() You might remember this map from my previous post where I used it as one of my inspiration maps for the map I am creating. Furthermore, I promised a backstory, so here it is. This map originated from a Spanish atlas originally on the Spanish ship, Rosario. This was in 1680 when pirates sailed the seas in search of riches. A crew of English pirates sailing on the Trinity stumbled upon the Rosario of the coast of Ecuador. They were led by captain Bartholomew Sharpe. They raided the ship and gained possession of a very important item, the atlas. This atlas would be very beneficial to the English because they wanted to contest Spain in South America. Sharpe brought this treasure back to King Charles ll. The king knew this was very important and ordered William Hack to create an English Version. Hack's version contained childish drawing filled with beautiful, detailed notes that would benefit many sailors. This map caught my eye because of its colorful composition. It aesthetically pleasing, but at the same time, you can tell it is filled with detail. The story behind it is also incredibly interesting to me. It shows how you can have an informational map that is also a piece of art. I'm not sure that this would be able to help me if I was lost at sea, but I'm sure it helped many trained professionals at the time. #2: "The Shape of Water" (p.36) ![]() This is a map created by Jared Price of the waterways in America. When looking at it, it seems as though there are mountains and other landforms drawn on the map, but it is actually just water. This map shows how water changes with topography. If you didn't know, topography is the arrangement of the natural and artificial physical features of an area. For example, mountainous areas have shorter streams of water while plains have long, wider rivers. This map was really interesting to me for a couple of reasons. First, I never knew how much the physical features of an area affect the waterways in that same area. It was fascinating how different each area was. Second, this map shows the amount of water within the landforms. We grew up knowing that 70% of our surface was oceans, but I never knew how much of our countries were water as well. This map really displayed that to me in a clear, understandable way. #3: "Planning the Capital" (p.50) This map depicts Pierre Charles L'Enfant's plan for the capital city, Washington D.C. L'Enfant was a French artist who migrated from France during the Revolutionary War in hope of military glory. However, he wanted more than just glory, he was an artist who was skilled at both engineering and architecture, and he decided to leave his mark that way. Alexander Hamilton helped to kick-start his career by landing him a job to renovate the city hall building in New York City. His renovations were so beautiful and elegant that he was able to convince George Washington to let him design the nation's capital. He was given a deadline of three weeks to complete his plan, and he used every minute to create his prestigious plan. He created a magnificent plan that would highlight the important places in the capital and show the true glory of America. Unfortunately, L'Enfant got into a disagreement with Thomas Jefferson on how to approach the plan. This resulted in L'Enfant being removed from the project altogether. They stuck to Jefferson's plan and it proved to not work as well as they had hoped. In 1900, a group of architects decided to revisit L'Enfant's plan. His vision was finally created and turned into the beautiful city we know today. This map isn't the most stunning map I have ever seen, but the story behind it is incredible. Not only does it give you a glimpse into the building of the country we know today, but it shows how eventually your hard work will pay off. L'Enfant may have died a poor, unrecognized man, but eventually, his true greatness was shown. #4: "The Colors of Destruction" ![]() After World War ll, much of London was left in destruction due to the countless bombs dropped by the Germans. The London County Council ordered the areas' architects to map the level of destruction each building suffered. This went on a scale from yellow, meaning blast damage, to black, meaning total destruction. The map shown here is a map drawn of the Limehouse and Stepney Neighborhood in London. As you can see, there is a large range of destruction throughout the neighborhoods. These maps represent the effects of the war that were felt throughout the city of London. It affected so many people in different ways, and this map does a perfect job of representing that. Not only do the colors pop out of the page to create a lasting image, but they convey a point to the reader. #5: World War ll in 3-D ![]() During World War ll, the allies created 3-D maps that quite possibly led them to victory. These maps were created for soldiers going into unfamiliar terrain, so they knew what to do. Each of the maps created had exact detail, and if one little thing was messed up, everything could have been ruined. This only happened one time when they miscalculated the height of a wall and led to the loss of that battle. The most important time this strategy was used was during the planning of the attack of Normandy, France, better known as V-Day. This map was used to create a flawless strategy to complete the assault. Furthermore, this map showed the soldiers what to expect in a clear, understandable way. Without it, there may have been a different outcome. This set of maps was compelling to me because they were such a crucial part of the war. Additionally, this is a prime example of a productive way to use maps. Furthermore, they were designed in a way that anybody would be able to understand them. #6: "The Heart of the Grand Canyon" (p.118) ![]() In 1970, Bradford Washburn created a map that is still known today as the best map of the Grand Canyon ever created. This map took years of planning, surveying, drawing, and more, and the hard work definitely paid off. Washburn was inspired to create this map when he went to the Grand Canyon with his wife and found there was no excellent map of the area anywhere. With a total of $40,000, he set out to create his map. In order to survey all of the land, he had to send helicopters to the places where the average human couldn't go. After seven years of field-work, it was finally time to create the masterpiece. The project had ended up totaling $100,000, which is equal to half-a-million dollars today. The drawing was no easy task either, but he had people from all over the world help with his map to make it look as good as it does today. Finally, after 1075 hours of painting, he was finished with his map of the heart of the Grand Canyon. This map shows how much work goes into creating a map that is more than just good or great even. Washburn poured his heart and soul into this map, and that really shows through the exquisite detail of the map. #7 "The Virtues of Farming" (p.148) The map above is one of the many maps in the Atlas of American Agriculture by Oliver Edwin Baker. This atlas was created to advocate for farming across America. Baker believed in "rural" farming. This means people who live in urban areas plant some of their own food creating a balance of self-sufficiency and reliance on others. Baker created each map to inform the population on the conditions in your area. The map above shows the types of soil throughout America, so you can use plants that fare well in that soil. This was published during the time of the Great Depression when farmers were struggling. Not only was it hard to get deposits from the banks, but the dust bowl had just swept the nation. The atlas helped get struggling farmers back off their feet by showing which plants to plant in order to get the most out of crops. These maps were the best example of informational maps that I have found. Some of the other maps were really good, but these are purely informational. They do end up looking appealing, but that was not their purpose. If you are ever looking for some inspiration on that front, turn to the Atlas of American Agriculture, and you won't be disappointed. #8: "The Art of Mapping the Brain"(p.200) ![]() Santiago Ramón y Cajal was a pioneer of neuroscience. His discoveries set the foundation of what we know today. His maps of neurons helped him make these discoveries. This is the first example of a map of something other than land or water, and this is a perfect example of one. Cajal began studying the anatomy of cells and tissues by using a microscope. Italian scientist, Camillo Golgi, aided him in his discoveries by inventing a new way to stain tissues. This allowed Cajal to see single neurons. He began to draw what he saw through his microscope, and luckily, he was a brilliant artist. By studying his drawing, he concluded that neurons are individual cells that interact with each other. Prior to this discovery, scientists believed that neurons were a system of cells. Cajal made many other discoveries during his careers, and along with his discoveries, he made some amazing maps. These maps allowed him to explore the things he did, and they allowed him to win a Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Without maps, we might not have been as advanced in the field of neuroscience as we are today. #9: "The Urban Smellscape" (p.238) ![]() Kate Mclean focuses on a different aspect of the city when making her map. She wanted to show the "smellscape" of a city because there was enough landscape, and she wanted to do something different. She noticed how in different areas and times, there were different smells. Mclean decided to explore that by enlisting a group of seven people to walk around Kiev, Ukraine on Christmas morning and record the smells. By making this map, Mclean wanted to show how each person has a distinct sense of smell. Furthermore, she wanted to prove that a map didn't only have to be of the same aspect of a city every time. Mclean plans to map more and more cities and compile the maps into one picture in order to discover the secret of the smellscape. This map caught my attention because of its unique look. I was perplexed because I didn't know what it could be. The fact it was in a different language didn't help me much either, but after learning about the origin of it, I am truly fascinated with it. It shows so much different things at one time while still not being too overwhelming. Mclean has created a perfect example of an innovative map. #10: "Flattening the World" (p.264) For ages, cartographers have struggled with the task of finding a way not to distort the world on a piece of paper. The problem is, it's basically impossible. When trying to minimize one form of distortion on a map, you increase the rest of it. The Earth is a 3-Dimensional, spherical shape, so it's hard to fit it on a 2-Dimensional plane. In the past, cartographers have created different projections. A projection is a way of representing curves on a flat surface. Each projection reduces one type of distortion and increases the other. There are 5 types of distortion: area, shape, distance, angle, and direction. The first projection was created by cartographer Gerard Mercator. Mercator's projection focuses on angles and distance. This is because, in his time, people used maps to travel, so they needed an accurate map in that category. Peter's projection is another style of projection that minimizes area. He created this style to be able to show a developing world. Therefore, it was popular with development organizations and educators of his time. Peter's projection is not liked by many because it distorts the shapes of the land way too much. the Winkel Tripel projection style is a popular style of projection because it minimizes each factor equally making for a less distorted map overall. People began to get more creative with their styles of projection, and you will see that with the next three. Erwin Raisz created the Armadillo projection. This style makes it seem spherical instead of flat. The shapes are actually distorted, but we perceive them as though they are not. Next, Bernard Cahill created a butterfly projection style. This style breaks up the ocean, but it doesn't cause the continents to be distorted. Last, Buckminster Fuller created perhaps the most innovative style of projection yet. His style incorporated a 20-sided shape that could be folded into numerous different shapes. This allows you to project it in different ways. All of these maps show the creation of a solution to a problem. Although I think this problem can't be perfectly fixed, these maps each have their own remedy to the solution. Together, they each show a different perspective of the world that we might not have thought of ourselves. #11: "Jerry's Map" (p.283) ![]() Jerry Gretzinger has spent 55 years of his life creating his fantasy map. His map is filled with both abstract and concrete elements from cities to cereal boxes. The entire map is composed of 3,500 panels that are 55 feet across. Each panel has a different image, and together they make one, huge map. The map all started when Jerry became bored during a day of work in 1963. He was working at a Michigan ball bearing factory as a summer job where he monitored machines. He began to doodle on a piece of paper. These doodles included roads, buildings, and much more. After he finished his first page, he went on to another page, then another, then another, and so on. As Jerry grew, so did his map. He took his map with him as he moved from place to place constantly adding on to his map. Jerry stored the map away in his attic for twenty years after his wife gave birth to their son. He didn't think about it for 20 years until his son found the map in the attic where it had been for a long time. When Jerry saw it, he immediately began working on it. At this point, the map was so big that he didn't know where to add on. He created a game out of it by using playing cards to tell him what to do and where to do it. Jerry's friends convinced him to begin showing his map in public, and that is what he did. He has brought it to many different places, but only once has he shown the full map. That one time was at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art when is map was only 2,600 panels. Jerry continues to add onto his map creating more fun twists to his game. This map shows how you can enjoy making a map. Jerry didn't make his map to show off or to get money, he simply made it because he wanted to. This map is truly a masterpiece that should be remembered for a long time. #12: "An Epic Mapmaking Journey" (p.302) ![]() Last but certainly not least, we have Anton Thomas's map of North America. This map was used in my most recent post as inspiration if you remember, and I absolutely love it. Thomas is originally from New Zealand, and when he traveled to the United States in 2011, he fell in love with it. He noticed he had a knack for art when he drew a picture for his friend's refrigerator, and the rest was history. Thomas spent four years creating his spectacular hand-drawn map of North America. He filled every open space with animals, trees, rivers, cities, and more. He chose 600 important cities and drew a skyline of each of them. The skylines include important landmarks or iconic parts of that city. He drew each thing a specific way in order to capture the character of what he was representing. For example, when drawing Havana, Cuba, he could have just put some simple music notes, but instead, he chose to draw the rhythmic pattern of the rumba, a style of music that originates from Cuba. This is by far one of my favorite maps. It has a high level of complexity, yet it looks simple. Thomas does a fantastic job of highlighting the important parts of a place with such detailed images. Moreover, It makes the reader feel as though they have been to each and every place. Thomas has basically created a fantasy world with a real location on Earth.
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