Happy Thought for 16 August 2024

Have a Happy Thought:


Maps are a perfect example of the phrase “All models are wrong but some are useful", said by the statistician George Box.

A good (useful) map might help get you where you want to go – this includes dynamic and electronic maps like Google Maps, Apple Maps, or Open Street Maps. Some maps can give you a new perspective on the world.

 And then there are the maps that are printed on meant to be useful in more than one way. Take this Map-kin for example (I just really liked the word ‘map-kin’ and basically found a whole bunch of other maps to make up an entire email just to share this one word with you all).

Image: A Map-kin of best stops. Map of western Nevada with best stops and points of interest for tourists, dated sometime between 1930 and 1960. From the Library of Congress

 

Some maps, though, seem to be less about getting you physically to a place, and more about making a point. Take this political-cartoon-turned-map from 1870:

Image: Caricature map of Europe during the Franco-Prussian war. Boston : L. Prang & Co., 1870. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pga.07897

 Maybe you just want a way to help you remember the state flowers of all of the US States (Hawaii not included I guess because in 1911 it was a self-governing territory; whereas the other territories (not-yet-states) shown here, including Alaska, were governed/administered by the US government). (Hawaii’s state flower is the yellow hibiscus, in case you were wondering)

Image: Our National Bouquet, 1911. https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.45504

 

Sometimes you want your map to tell you really detailed information about the land you’re about to walk over, in which case you get to learn and appreciate the beauty of cartographic symbols like these:

Hydrographic symbols – page 46 Elements of Topographic Drawing by Montz, John M. (1943)

 

Or maybe you’re more interested in geology… (who doesn’t love a gneiss and schist rock?)

Image: Sections showing geological formations, page 85 Elements of Topographic Drawing by Montz, John M. (1943)

 

Finally, a map can be useful to you, if you know how to decode it, even if it is completely useless to anyone that does not hold your specialist knowledge. Take for example this map (caution: it was reproduced by someone that didn’t understand the map) of Te Moana-nui-a-kiwa/ the South Pacific, by the great Tahitian navigator, Tupaia.

Tupaia's map, c. 1769. Reproduced by James Cook - British Library, London.https://alchetron.com/Tupaia-(navigator)-1088442-W#-http://www.britishempire.co.uk/images4/tupaiamaplarge.jpghttp://www.strangehistory.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/tupaia-map.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57132308

 

 

Thanks to Flickr and the Library of Congress for some of the above, and more, maps: https://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/albums/72177720319476180/

 

 

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