Projecting a round surface of the Earth on a flat surface is not an easy task. Scientists are trying to find an optimal way to do it for centuries. In fact the most common map projection that we use almost everyday in Google Maps and other mapping services, has been introduced in 1569 by Gerardus Mercator.
Guys from Vox decided to give it a shot and tried to explain the complexity of map projections in a simple way… And they’ve succeeded. This video will ultimately explain you the concept of projections and why all world maps are in fact wrong.
Totally Geoawesome!
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I just love TED Talks. Wonderful, humorous, inspiring speakers. Many short and punchy. Some like:
made me smile and even clap my hands at the end. Others like:
had me laughing and nodding my head in agreement.
The topics are fascinating. And the speakers exceptional. But when it comes to geospatial – and I truly do not mean to be disrespectful to those many speakers who have presented on geospatial topics – I am left a little cold.
My problem with Geospatial TED Talks so far ..
I’ll admit I get amused, and excited quite easily. Tell me a joke, any joke and I’ll roll around laughing. Tell me something that is interesting and you’ll have my undivided attention.
Geography holds the answers to so many questions. That’s why I love it so much. And geography as a science is truly fascinating. We study and focus on both humans and land-forms. Spatial or relating to space, being at geographies core: location or the ‘where’. So why am I a little down on TED Talks?
Because I’ve seen nothing so far which has excited and inspired me!
I’ve seen talks on GIS, digital maps, mapping this and that, big data. All good in their own right. But I want more. I want somebody to talk about the geospatial revolution/evolution that’s underway. Not somebody from one of the big vendors. Somebody who sees our incredibly exciting, newly emerging geospatial world through a different lens.
I was looking over the weekend at the most popular Tedx talks of 2016. And guess what is missing… Any talk which shines a light on the new possibilities the rapid advances in geospatial bring to our world. Let’s change that in 2017.
