Geographic Literacy

Declining geographic literacy in the hyper-information age is a curious paradox.  It may also spell trouble for our over-used planet.  This post starts to looks at this issue in more detail.

Mercator's Magic Map

One of the most profound and influential advancements in cartography is sorely misunderstood today.  Let's take a look at when it happened, what it does and why it is still incredibly important.

The Address Dilemma

Have you ever encountered a misplaced marker? Geocoding may be the culprit. This post takes a look at the ubiquitous and erratic way we humans describe locations.

On the Flip Side

Have you ever wondered who or what is on the other side of the planet?  This post takes a look at what is straight down and upside down.  It also ponders the Earth's strange antipodal balance.

The Shadow Knows

The size of the Earth was calculated with surprising accuracy by Eratosthenes in the second century BC.  His method was both brilliant and simple.  This article describes a classroom experiment for repeating his results.

The Fly on the Wall

A long line of brilliant thinkers and mathematicians patiently observed, deduced and calculated a way to render the details of our world onto conveniently flat charts, books and electronic devices.  A fly on the wall helped.

The Good Egg

There are some interesting similarities between the Earth and an egg.  This post takes a few measurements to discover how accurate that model really is.

What is GIS?

What is GIS?  This article kicks off the blog with a philosophical look at the root meaning of GIS and what it really involves.