How a map changed the world

[Hand of Evil]

190-year-old view of Britain gave birth to modern geology

Just two centuries ago, the world lacked a single geologic map. The chronology of the planet's history was unknown and effectively invisible to people, despite the evidence of rock layers at cliffs and canyons.

Theological maps of the world then depicted such biblical concepts as the Garden of Eden. Some people believed that mountains grew organically like trees.

see http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9880229/ for complete story.

As a person that uses maps in game I thought this was cool.

 

[Desdichado]

That's not surprising, really. 190 years ago was long before the theory of continental drift, for instance, so any geological map would have been woefully imcomplete and hampered by a poor understanding of concepts that we take for granted today.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

That's really cool.

And at long last I understand why my kindergarten teacher was so obsessed about us coloring within the lines.

 

[nerfherder]

There was a documentary about the production of that map on BBC2 a couple of months a go - part of a series about important maps. Very interesting stuff. Hopefully, it might make it over the pond sometime soon.

Cheers,
Liam

 

[werk]

So that is a bedrock map? I guess I need to watch the documentary...

 

[RangerWickett]

http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/maps.html

I wrote this my sophomore year of college, and it's still online at my professor's site, since she thought it would make a good reference about the history of maps and colonialism.

 

[Varianor Abroad]

Simon Winchester (author of The Professor and the Madman) has a book on this subject with a gorgeous fold-out reproduction of this map. Unsurprisingly, it's called The Map That Changed the World.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060193611/103-4578036-8079846?v=glance&n=283155&v=glance