Comments on: A Guide To Rivers, Plains, Planets, Stars

A Guide To Rivers, Plains, Planets, Stars

The Whelk — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:26:04 -0800

Peacay of BibliOdyessey highlights some stunning examples of Victorian Infographics from the Rumsey Map Collection(previously). (Direct Flickr link)

By: mathowie

mathowie — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:30:23 -0800

mefi's own!

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:30:51 -0800

Ieee!

By: brundlefly

brundlefly — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:35:15 -0800

BibliOdyssey is so great (as is the book).

By: Sys Rq

Sys Rq — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:43:16 -0800

This one could do with some expansion. Any takers?

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:43:29 -0800

Forgive me, but: 19th Century nerdgasm

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:45:54 -0800

Sys Rq: It's a history of the world, starting with Adam And Eve and then following their linage to the nation-states.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:48:49 -0800

Also: Charles Minard's famous graphic mapping of Napolean's campaign in Russia (this was the best resolution I could find with an admittedly quick search).

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:50:09 -0800

(Actually, you can enlarge it, so it's totally readable. It's an amazing piece of work.)

By: billysumday

billysumday — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:59:54 -0800

Is there someplace online that sells originals or reprints of material similar to this?

By: strangely stunted trees

strangely stunted trees — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 10:02:34 -0800

Sys Rq - my French is a little rusty, but I read it as a chart of the political organization of the world's peoples, from the day of Creation (in 4963 BC) down to the present day (in 1858). The vertical "swim-lanes" seem to represent geographical locations - you can see at bottom they're labeled with political divisions as they existed in the mid-1850s (i.e., there are separate entries for the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the Papal States and various other Italian polities, rather than one for Italy). The branches and flows in the chart seem to represent different races and countries as they conquer different places, and look to be inscribed with the names of empires and prominent rulers. Running down the y-axis to the left side of the chart is a list of important events, and on the right side a list of famous people and important inventions. The chart appears to treat the Old Testament as a perfectly reliable historical source and indeed also lists Greek mythological figures such as Atlas, Achilles and Orpheus in the Famous People column.

By: Sys Rq

Sys Rq — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 10:13:48 -0800

Yeah, no shit. I said EXPANSION, not explanation.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 10:18:22 -0800

Yeah, no shit. I said EXPANSION, not explanation. to read makes the writing english good.

By: Sys Rq

Sys Rq — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 10:21:10 -0800

I appreciate the effort though!

By: Chrischris

Chrischris — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 10:27:45 -0800

And here's a more contemporary piece: Harold N. Fisk's Geological Investigation of the Alluvial Valley of the Lower Mississippi River (via Pruned). (Full Resolution pdfs are located in the Fisk 44 Oversized Plates link (Plates 22-1 through 22-15 being the most famous and beautiful) Truly, the most beautiful piece of infographic goodness the US Government has ever produced.

By: Babblesort

Babblesort — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 10:42:56 -0800

Compile runcible.

By: kanewai

kanewai — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:38:14 -0800

Shit. I'm lost in the Tableau de L'Histoire Universelle, and my boss is not going to be happy with my productivity today. Expand it here.

By: DU

DU — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:52:46 -0800

This one could do with some expansion. Any takers? Done!

By: Faze

Faze — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:01:00 -0800

The topographical map of Manhattan: priceless.

By: thisisdrew

thisisdrew — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:07:30 -0800

A salute to David Rumsey. An awesome guy. "I realized that whichever institution I gave it to would lock it away, put it on a shelf," he says, with mild indignation. "But just then the technology came along that would enable me to put it all up online, and it was obvious that this was the best way I could give it away to the public." SFGate Article...

By: shothotbot

shothotbot — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:48:30 -0800

If I recall correctly, ConEd still uses versions of those topographical maps of manhattan for something. Maybe some of the sewers empty out into old stream beds? Is this ringing any bells?

By: spitefulcrow

spitefulcrow — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 20:08:23 -0800

These are fantastic. Noticed the Cy. abbreviation for "city" on the time table piece; haven't seen that before. I love old abbreviation marks like that. Why have they gone out of use? (Suppose it's to do with the advent of computers and limited symbol sets...)