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    Who likes looking at maps?

    This made me laugh:

    http://media.dcentertainment.com/sites/default/files/MAD-Magazine-NewYorker-View2-2012.jpg

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      Who likes looking at maps?

      An article and maps on Uncovering LA's Lost Streams, here, which may be of especial interest to folks in that part of the world.

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        Who likes looking at maps?

        Not exactly maps, but anyway. I did a bit of Google searching for rivers this afternoon - I'm not sure why, I just felt like it - and came across these in the images section. Cartographical pictograms of the world's longest rivers and highest mountains, as known at the time each was drawn. They're gorgeous.

        All the links below are direct to the images. Clicking on them will embiggen them so you can scout around properly.

        1823

        1850

        1855

        1864

        They're not all by the same people - the folk responsible can be identified via the URL.

        Also, this, a map of all the world's major river systems.



        From here.

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          Who likes looking at maps?

          Those are incredible Sam, the effort put into them.

          Now, I'm going to make myself look an idiot here, but on the 1864 chart they cite the height of Everest as 29,002 feet which I think is exactly right (certainly that's what I remember reading for Everest). How did they know this if no-one had been up it, or flown to that height, even in a balloon? Something to do with theodolites, triangulation and stars?

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            Who likes looking at maps?

            Not quite, SWR - 29,002 was the height established in 1856. The height agreed on today is 29,029 feet.

            As for how they did it (and even getting within twenty feet sounds pretty impressive, to me), trigonometry is the answer.

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              Who likes looking at maps?

              So if I just airbrush out the word "stars" then I was spot on

              Cheers Sam.

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                Who likes looking at maps?

                Those are great, Sam, thanks. Especially love the oddly beautiful map of the world's major river systems.

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                  Who likes looking at maps?

                  For city public transport maps fans, I *really* recommend the Transitmaps Tumblr, "a celebration of transit maps and diagrams from around the world, whether they be real or imaginary, or from the past, future or present." In the most recent post, the map below comes in for an absolute slating.

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                    Who likes looking at maps?

                    A map of Moscow showing the distribution of the execution by Stalin of 11170 people, from the 1930s - 1950s, here.

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                      Who likes looking at maps?

                      Thanks for sharing that Tumblr, Furtho.

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                        Who likes looking at maps?

                        Furtho wrote: Those are great, Sam, thanks. Especially love the oddly beautiful map of the world's major river systems.
                        The map shows northeastern Canada as a dry zone because there are no major rivers, when in fact it`s one of the richest in sweet water.

                        I found a really nice set of French mid-century middle school geography class maps, including a large one with the complete river system of France that looks similar to the one above but with the sea borders drawn.

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                          Who likes looking at maps?

                          Calling fresh water "sweet water" is one of my favourite English as a second language mistakes.

                          (I often called it "vers water" [fresh water] in Dutch and got strange looks)

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                            Who likes looking at maps?

                            Interesting article about William "Wild Bill" Bunge (radical social cartographer, researcher on inner-city Detroit, blacklisted by the House of Un-American Activities and later Stalinist cab driver), here.

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                              Who likes looking at maps?

                              Haha Bryan, "sweet water" did indeed sound a bit awkward but that's what came to my mind, "eau douce" being the french equivalent.

                              What's the word in dutch and german?

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                                Who likes looking at maps?

                                Nice read, Furtho.

                                Wild bill's depiction of Vietnam era Domino Theory:

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                                  Who likes looking at maps?

                                  linus wrote: Haha Bryan, "sweet water" did indeed sound a bit awkward but that's what came to my mind, "eau douce" being the french equivalent.

                                  What's the word in dutch and german?
                                  Zoetwater in Dutch. Zoet meaning sweet.

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                                    Who likes looking at maps?

                                    Edward Mogg's Postal District & Cab Fare Map of London, 1859 (a companion to the book Mogg's Ten Thousand Cab Fares), from here.

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                                      Who likes looking at maps?

                                      Apologies if this has already been posted - just seen it on a friend's facebook wall, and I think it is wonderful:

                                      South London tube

                                      http://www.steveprentice.net/tube/TfLSillyMaps/southlondontube.jpg

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                                        Who likes looking at maps?

                                        Oh, and by the way, re "sweet water" above, that phrase is powerfully evocative of the place name in Once Upon a Time in the West ("only X would call this stinkin' patch of desert Sweet Water")

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                                          Who likes looking at maps?

                                          Evariste Euler Gauss wrote: South London tube

                                          http://www.steveprentice.net/tube/TfLSillyMaps/southlondontube.jpg
                                          Ah yes, that one was produced after the closing of the Clandon-Albury extension, via Newlands Corner...

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                                            Who likes looking at maps?

                                            I wanted one more practical than this:

                                            Football grounds in London

                                            Have we done this one football supporter map of London

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                                              Who likes looking at maps?

                                              It would be interesting to do something like this for football in England and elsewhere:

                                              http://www.commoncensus.org/sports.php

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                                                Who likes looking at maps?

                                                Furtho wrote: For city public transport maps fans, I *really* recommend the Transitmaps Tumblr, "a celebration of transit maps and diagrams from around the world, whether they be real or imaginary, or from the past, future or present." In the most recent post, the map below comes in for an absolute slating.

                                                There is a regrettable overuse of the world celebrate. That and passionate about.

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                                                  Who likes looking at maps?

                                                  Incandenza wrote: I'm not sure if this is what Matej was going for, but California City was promoted as the next great...well, California city, by the guy who started it in the 1960s. The roads were all laid out, but no one moved there, so there is a sort of ghost city where the development was supposed to be.
                                                  I've been looking at California City on Street View. It does look quite desolate.

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                                                    Who likes looking at maps?

                                                    Why on Earth... wrote: Rogin the Armchair Fan wrote:
                                                    On mafu's map, why do National Geographic consider "Miller" to be a German surname? That would be Muller, wouldn't it?
                                                    According to Bill Bryson, "Miller" is a much more common surname in North America than in the UK, largely because of anglicised Müllers. he says it's not very common here because millers were widely disliked, being suspected of adulterating their flour. Though I can't work out why such dodgy practices didn't occur to their German counterparts.
                                                    Typical made-up "interesting" travel literature pish.

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