The globe really shows how tiny Europe is, and how big Africa is. It's almost a revelation. The contrast is bigger compared to a map. (You can actually see it partially in that FDR photo.)
That's important for the question of immigration from Africa to Europe. Europeans look at maps and assume that all those people in Africa are soon going to run out of land to farm to feed themselves, so we'll just have to let them into big old Europe, but on a globe you can see that Africa south of the Sahara is really vast and has lots and lots of land. It's not the best farmland per acre, but there sure is a lot of it.
I've told the story on the old site of a friend I grew up with who made his money, retired early, and decided to try to do some good in east Africa by developing new ways for farmers there to market their crops (tldr: he gave it a go for a couple of years, but it seems it didn't really work out).
Anyway, he wrote quite a lot about his venture, especially in the early days. One overwhelming impression was the vast amount of good farmland in Tanzania that was just lying fallow. When you come from the upper midwest, where viable land is farmed, intensively, almost in its entirety, just not bothering to make use of such a valuable resource is hard to get your head around.
There is a lot of farmland in Africa that is better than Europe's. Plus, Africa has a year-round growing season, so double or triple productivity on the same acreage!
There is simply no excuse for Africans to emigrate to Europe for "running out of land". Indeed, that logic much more suitably justifies land-poor Europeans colonizing land-rich Africa.
Most people would be surprised how far north Europe is compared to the United States. Interstate 80 ends in Teaneck, New Jersey; if one was to extend it directly east you would be south of Barcelona, Rome, and Naples, never mind most of Europe. The 49th parallel forms most of the land border between the US and Canada and also goes through Charles de Gaulle Airport
By far the greater part of South America is east of that same Teaneck, New Jersey. I’ve never been able to entirely rid myself of the notion that South America is directly to the south of North America.
I’m sure there are other obvious truths to which I’m equally blind.
I hunted Caribou in Northern Quebec some years ago, at around 55° north latitude. It was 5° F and blowing a blizzard. That’s just about the latitude of Malin Head, the northernmost cape of Ireland. I’ve seen palm trees growing in people’s gardens just a few miles south of there.
My bride and I spent our third night at Valentia Island, Ireland in the far southwest of the nation. The Bed and Breakfast where we stayed had a palm tree in the front yard.
This is a great point. I'm from the northern edge of Iowa, which is considered pretty far north in American terms. But my hometown is at the same latitude as northern Spain and central Italy; it's south of Nice and Florence, for example.
Dropping down a couple of degrees to the south, southern Iowa is at the same latitude as Istanbul.
The northeast corner of New Jersey is defined as being at the 41st parallel, which means the vast majority of the state is further south than Istanbul as the 41st parallel travels through the city
When Trump was a boy of 17, the World's Fair opened in his home borough of Queens, New York, less than 3½ miles from where he was born. It is unknown if he attended but he later opened the World's Fair Casino in Atlantic City. The fair was the home of the Unisphere, perhaps the most famous globe ever constructed, but the concept didn't seem to resonate with him
Most of the earth's land masses are north of the equator. The equator runs through South America, Africa, and just above Australia, so those continents are the least distorted, roughly as big on the Mercator map as they are on the globe. On the other hand, Greenland is not YUGE at all, just big as islands go.
I think even better than the globe FDR had would be for Trump to get one like the one Charlie Chaplin had in The Great Dictator. Like Charlie, he could twirl it around on his fingerprints and bounce it up in air with his elbows knees and butt.
I own a rather large lighted globe. It's a National Geographic from my birth year. I also found a 6 ' by 10' flat National Geographic map from the same month and year, which is mounted and framed in my office. I'm a map geek, always been, shall never apologize for it.
2) in command of the arctic, where Russia has many bases already, and
3) on par in size with the Louisiana Purchase.
Denmark should at least lease mineral rights, but why not sell it? Don't the Danes *want* our help opposing further Russian aggression? Is Denmark developing Greenland? Are they doing anything for Western Civilization by sitting on it? Don't they need funds to re-arm also, now that Russian expansion is (properly) a European problem?
Perhaps Trump would prefer a disc. I'm not sure he'd be on board with the idea of a spherical earth.
On a serious point, the distortion of the Mercator projection is something of a straw man. There are plenty of other very good projections suitable for a world map. One of my favourites is Equal Earth, a modern equal-area projection.
The Mercator projection is useful for two reasons. It is conformal, meaning that angles are preserved: if you zoom right in, a square house appears square on the map. And it allows simple navigation using a magnetic compass (as long as you correct for magnetic declination) because compass directions are straight lines on the map. That made it ideal for early modern seafarers.
Having just re-read The Destruction of PQ-17, among the things for which I’m grateful is to never have been involved in a naval battle in the very high latitudes.
I've been looking at Mercator maps all my life and didn't see the actual SCALE until this hour. Thanks Steve. Speaking of scale in a conversation on an overnight flight between L.A. & Atlanta, the person I was speaking with said, "Compared to the size of the earth below and the sky above, this plane we're in right now looks like a grain of rice with tiny wings." After he said that, we were both quiet for a while. Thanks again for a closer look at the real world.
None of Trump's wives were particularly well endowed
The globe really shows how tiny Europe is, and how big Africa is. It's almost a revelation. The contrast is bigger compared to a map. (You can actually see it partially in that FDR photo.)
That's important for the question of immigration from Africa to Europe. Europeans look at maps and assume that all those people in Africa are soon going to run out of land to farm to feed themselves, so we'll just have to let them into big old Europe, but on a globe you can see that Africa south of the Sahara is really vast and has lots and lots of land. It's not the best farmland per acre, but there sure is a lot of it.
I've told the story on the old site of a friend I grew up with who made his money, retired early, and decided to try to do some good in east Africa by developing new ways for farmers there to market their crops (tldr: he gave it a go for a couple of years, but it seems it didn't really work out).
Anyway, he wrote quite a lot about his venture, especially in the early days. One overwhelming impression was the vast amount of good farmland in Tanzania that was just lying fallow. When you come from the upper midwest, where viable land is farmed, intensively, almost in its entirety, just not bothering to make use of such a valuable resource is hard to get your head around.
There is a lot of farmland in Africa that is better than Europe's. Plus, Africa has a year-round growing season, so double or triple productivity on the same acreage!
There is simply no excuse for Africans to emigrate to Europe for "running out of land". Indeed, that logic much more suitably justifies land-poor Europeans colonizing land-rich Africa.
Most people would be surprised how far north Europe is compared to the United States. Interstate 80 ends in Teaneck, New Jersey; if one was to extend it directly east you would be south of Barcelona, Rome, and Naples, never mind most of Europe. The 49th parallel forms most of the land border between the US and Canada and also goes through Charles de Gaulle Airport
By far the greater part of South America is east of that same Teaneck, New Jersey. I’ve never been able to entirely rid myself of the notion that South America is directly to the south of North America.
I’m sure there are other obvious truths to which I’m equally blind.
In a similar vein, Easter Island, located well into the Pacific Ocean, is east of cities such as Salt Lake City and Phoenix
Mind. Blown. Thanks, this is entertaining.
They should worship the Gulfstream. If not for that European winters would be similar to Alberta's.
The northern outpost of North American major-league sports is Edmonton, Alberta. Belfast is further north than Edmonton
I hunted Caribou in Northern Quebec some years ago, at around 55° north latitude. It was 5° F and blowing a blizzard. That’s just about the latitude of Malin Head, the northernmost cape of Ireland. I’ve seen palm trees growing in people’s gardens just a few miles south of there.
My bride and I spent our third night at Valentia Island, Ireland in the far southwest of the nation. The Bed and Breakfast where we stayed had a palm tree in the front yard.
You’d be more likely to see a Nigerian now.
A man of excellent taste.
And Canadians should pray for global warming
This is a great point. I'm from the northern edge of Iowa, which is considered pretty far north in American terms. But my hometown is at the same latitude as northern Spain and central Italy; it's south of Nice and Florence, for example.
Dropping down a couple of degrees to the south, southern Iowa is at the same latitude as Istanbul.
The northeast corner of New Jersey is defined as being at the 41st parallel, which means the vast majority of the state is further south than Istanbul as the 41st parallel travels through the city
Africa. That’s a big place, Africa.
> Tarzan couldn't take this kind of hot
--Eugene Jerome in Biloxi Blues (Simon, 1984)
A distant cousin designed the carriage for FDR’s globe.
Great point that Trump is overestimating the size of both Canada and Greenland.
Yes, he's not a lawyer, but he is a salesman.
When Trump was a boy of 17, the World's Fair opened in his home borough of Queens, New York, less than 3½ miles from where he was born. It is unknown if he attended but he later opened the World's Fair Casino in Atlantic City. The fair was the home of the Unisphere, perhaps the most famous globe ever constructed, but the concept didn't seem to resonate with him
Most of the earth's land masses are north of the equator. The equator runs through South America, Africa, and just above Australia, so those continents are the least distorted, roughly as big on the Mercator map as they are on the globe. On the other hand, Greenland is not YUGE at all, just big as islands go.
> The equator runs ... just above Australia
Sydney is closer to the equator than Los Angeles is, which is something I never would have guessed before I just looked it up
A mother beautiful globe!
Channeling Odd Ball.....
Always with the negative waves, Moriarty
Why not a Mammoth Cheese?
I think even better than the globe FDR had would be for Trump to get one like the one Charlie Chaplin had in The Great Dictator. Like Charlie, he could twirl it around on his fingerprints and bounce it up in air with his elbows knees and butt.
Flying straight north from Santiago Chile like I did many times you realize that the first city in North America you would fly over would be Boston.
I own a rather large lighted globe. It's a National Geographic from my birth year. I also found a 6 ' by 10' flat National Geographic map from the same month and year, which is mounted and framed in my office. I'm a map geek, always been, shall never apologize for it.
Many autists are
True, but Greenland is
1) undeveloped,
2) in command of the arctic, where Russia has many bases already, and
3) on par in size with the Louisiana Purchase.
Denmark should at least lease mineral rights, but why not sell it? Don't the Danes *want* our help opposing further Russian aggression? Is Denmark developing Greenland? Are they doing anything for Western Civilization by sitting on it? Don't they need funds to re-arm also, now that Russian expansion is (properly) a European problem?
Perhaps Trump would prefer a disc. I'm not sure he'd be on board with the idea of a spherical earth.
On a serious point, the distortion of the Mercator projection is something of a straw man. There are plenty of other very good projections suitable for a world map. One of my favourites is Equal Earth, a modern equal-area projection.
The Mercator projection is useful for two reasons. It is conformal, meaning that angles are preserved: if you zoom right in, a square house appears square on the map. And it allows simple navigation using a magnetic compass (as long as you correct for magnetic declination) because compass directions are straight lines on the map. That made it ideal for early modern seafarers.
That disc would be supported on the backs of four elephants, all carried by an enormous turtle, Great A’Tuin.
If you think in 4 dimensions (as the stable genius no doubt does) a globe is a disc.
Having just re-read The Destruction of PQ-17, among the things for which I’m grateful is to never have been involved in a naval battle in the very high latitudes.
I've been looking at Mercator maps all my life and didn't see the actual SCALE until this hour. Thanks Steve. Speaking of scale in a conversation on an overnight flight between L.A. & Atlanta, the person I was speaking with said, "Compared to the size of the earth below and the sky above, this plane we're in right now looks like a grain of rice with tiny wings." After he said that, we were both quiet for a while. Thanks again for a closer look at the real world.