DIVERSOPHY.COM - products

1. Which image shows population sizes?
A cartogram is a map on which each country is shown with its size proportional to its population. Cartograms are used to show, among other things, measures of industrial output, oil consumption, wealth, and spending. They can give you a different perspective. A cartogram showing global warming concerns can be found in SEEING THROUGH MAPS.

2. Which image shows how big each country is?
The Peters Projection Map is probably best known for being "fair to all peoples." Each country is shown in proportion to its actual size. But it looks weird! Other equal-area maps share this attribute including Goode's homolosine, Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion projection, and the Mollweide projection (all are shown in SEEING THROUGH MAPS.

3. Which image shows "North" isn't the same as "up"?
This a Van der Grinten projection with south on top. Who ever said that "North" is necessarily "up"? Up is over our heads, and it is only relatively recently that maps have been oriented to the North. In olden days maps were oriented to the East (and other directions as well). Both ancient and modern South-up maps are shown in SEEING THROUGH MAPS.

4. Which images convey the idea of "Spaceship Earth"?
Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion Projection is an innovative image that was designed to help convey the idea that "we're all astronauts aboard a little spaceship called Earth." For more information about this visionary genius contact The Buckminster Fuller Institute (link to www.BFI.org).This representation minimizes shape AND size distortion, but is hard to use. The round images of the earth from space also convey the idea of our planet as a spaceship.

5. Which image was created to help navigators?
The Mercator projection is the large image shown across the cover of this book. This projection was created in 1569. It has been one of the most widely used images of the world. It is still in common use today in public schools and colleges.

6. Which images have been criticized the most?
The Mercator has been attacked as being Eurocentric and wildly distorted. It has become an icon of Western superiority, reflecting an era of imperialism and colonial domination. The Peters was created (or re-discovered) in 1974 specifically to contest the hidden bias of the Mercator. The Peters is now criticized as the "politically correct" map of the world. ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY has referred to Peters Projection advocates as "bleeding heart mapmakers." While Dr. Arno Peters created the map projection as a way of exposing the unconscious messages maps send, he failed to disclose his own political agenda in creating the map. The Peters image is billed as "fair to all peoples," but does that include the Palestinians or the Tamil Tiger Rebels? More cynical cartographers dub it as "fair to all acres." Despite all the criticism, the Peters Projection has shaken up cartography and been of enormous educational value in getting people to critique and understand the images they are presented with. In 1989 the American Cartographic Association called for ending the use of all rectangular maps which the ACA said "severely distort large sections of the world." Despite this admonition, rectangular maps remain quite popular. For a detailed explanation of the Peters map go to: www.diversophy.com/petersmap.htm

ALSO: a website dedicated to explaining the peters map is at www.petersmap.com.

Meanwhile, you can download Chapter One of STM at: http://www.diversophy.com/maps.htm