David Imus’ map of the USA which won “Best of Show” award at the annual competition of the Cartography and Geographic Information Society. This article in Slate zooms into some very fine detail and explains how much hand-drawn care was put into creating it, and why it is better than an ordinary paper map.
submission from djackmanson
looking at laughter
2nd Lieut. Frank Luke, Jr.
With 19 victories he was killed in action 29 Sept 1918.
World Railways. Bill Rankin, 2008.
What General Weygand has called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be freed and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands.
But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new dark age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, This was their finest hour.Prime Minister Winston Churchill, 18 June 1940
Fantasy Map: Chicago El Overlaid On New York City
A bit of whimsy for you today from Reddit, brought to my attention by Twitter user @GordonWerner. The El has been flipped both horizontally and vertically, then rotated to fit Manhattan’s street grid, but the scaling is totally accurate. It looks like The Loop is placed in the area directly below Central Park. A few things from this: it’s actually kind of scary how well this fits; and it’s astounding just how dense the New York subway’s lines really are (shown here in white).
(Source: Reddit)
Rise of the megacities
The world is currently experiencing a residential shift from rural to urban. Some interesting stats from The Guardian’s infographic above:
- In 20 years, China’s cities will have added 350 million people - more people than the entire population of the United States today
- According to the UN, almost 180,000 people move into cities every day
- By 2030, India will have 6 megacities with more than 10 million people
Take a closer look at the infographic, or read the accompanying article.
