Lately I’ve been browsing more and more maps, and been intrigued by all forms of data visualization (and presentations) in order to tell a story.
One of my very early and most well-remembered teachers of history taught that before studying anyone’s history, you must first learn their geography. Start with the map.
The land offers insight into the thinking of its’ inhabitants – see Japan for example – and the ratio of coastline to landmass is usually revealing. Europe’s long, twisting coastline in comparison to Africa’s relatively short coastline for such a large continent foreshadows much of their past thousand years of history.
One of my favorite blogs is Strange Maps (whose author recently published a book) which is a playful look into how we see the world and how the world shapes us. My favorites include the United States depicted by proximity to a McDonald’s, and the Patients per Doctor Map of the World. And of course, the often circulated United States of Canada.
These maps help us think in unusual ways about seeing the world, and even understanding the basic (but hidden) facts of the world around us.
Hans Rosling’s “Debunking Myths about the Third World,” is not a map per say, but is one of the best visual representations of the development of nations over time. I’ve watched it many times over. Many theses have been written on development theory but Rosling tells the story better than anyone. And getting people to pay attention (and make sense of the data) is as crucial as anything.
