Maps - Antique and New
I like to collect antique maps. These things are surprisingly easy to find. Usually, somebody will get their hands on an antique atlas and razor out all the pages to make a profit by selling each sheet as an 'antique map.' It's tough to find an intact atlas because of this, but the maps are fairly cheap for what you get, and they are easy to find on eBay. I like to buy a map, have it matted and framed and give it to someone as a gift. Usually I'll find a map of their home state, or a place where they grew up. The ones I collect are usually around 100 years old and have been removed from a larger collection. I'll include some photos of the finished products when I get them taken. There are some really beautiful hand drawn maps that I wish I could afford, but most are at auction houses or private collections. Most that I have were hand watercolored on a print made from the original woodcut or lithographed. The expensive ones are not necessarily the larger maps, but the ones with the most intricate line drawings, elaborate border art, and the reputation of the publisher. There are certain mapmakers from 19th century America that I can't come close to collecting. Then others from the same era are very reasonbly priced.
I guess I started getting interested in maps at a young age. Both my grandfathers love maps. I have one grandad who would shade in all the roads he had traveled on an atlas. The other would see a world event reported on the evening news and would find the location on the globe he kept in the living room.
My career even involved maps, sort of. I work with digital mapping systems and spatial analysis, so I guess the map bug hit me pretty hard. The funny thing is that I have almost no sense of direction. I can get lost in the town I've been living in for 12 years. I think I'm lacking some microscopic compass that we're supposed to have. So I guess it's good that map appreciation is something I picked up early on.
Anyway, I thought it would be cool to keep an inventory of the maps I've collected, so that's why this page is here. Hopefully I'll get some good pictures up soon so that there will be something to look at.
Verac.is: L.; of the truth, truthful
In Feast of Data on BPA Plastic, No Final Answer:
Everyone is exposed to BPA, but after hundreds of studies, there is no consensus about its safety.
Desert Roads Lead to Discovery in Egypt:
Archaeologists uncovered the remains of a settlement that flourished more than 3,500 years ago.
Basics: Surviving by Disguising: Nature’s Game of Charades:
There are many cases of mimicry in nature, which can be the sincerest form of flattery, the severest form of battery, or the weirdest survival strategy.
Researchers Create Nanostructures, and Whip Up a Recipe, Too:
The potential applications of nanostructures include storing hydrogen in future fuel-cell cars and delivering drugs inside the body. But they have also inspired the imagination of a Manhattan chef.
Mind: Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits:
Psychologists have discovered that some of the most hallowed advice on study habits is flat wrong.
Learning to Talk the Talk in a Hospital:
Communicating a patient's story is a matter of getting right and saying it fast.
Topical Gel Catches Up With Pills for Relief:
Controlled trials suggest that a topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug in a cream is as effective as their oral counterparts for treating osteoarthritis, soreness and tendinitis.
Global Update: Tuberculosis: Automated Test for Drug-Resistant TB Gives Results in Hours, Not Weeks:
Research indicates the test is 98 percent accurate when compared with positive results from the old method — examination of sputum by a trained microscopist.
Vital Signs: Risks: Asleep, and Helping to Keep the Weight Off:
Children under 5 who do not get at least 10 hours of sleep at night are almost twice as likely to be overweight or obese later in childhood, a new study reports.
Vital Signs: Prevention: Surgery Sharply Reduces Risk of 2 Cancers:
For women who carry a genetic mutation that puts them in danger of developing ovarian and breast cancer, prophylactic mastectomy and oophorectomy offer protection.
Vital Signs: Nostrums: A Bit of Marijuana Is Found to Ease Pain:
Patients with persistent nerve damage inhaled, and felt better, but did not get high, a Canadian study reports.
Smarter Than You Think: The Boss Is Robotic, and Rolling Up Behind You:
The next frontiers for mobile robots are the office, hospital and home.
Germany Extends Nuclear Plants’ Life:
Germany will extend the life spans of 17 plants while alternative energy sources are developed, which is likely to make money for power companies and the government.
Observatory: In a Fight for a Tree, Ants Thwart Elephants:
Ants live in the bulbous swellings of a tree known as the Acacia drepanolobium and feed on a sugary solution it produces, and in return they attack any creature that approaches it.
Observatory: Clues to Human Thought Found in Worm’s Brain:
Researchers report that something resembling a human cerebral cortex exists in the marine ragworm, a small creature that has not changed in hundreds of millions of years.
Observatory: On Birds of Many Colors, Lice Dress the Part:
Researchers have found that light-colored lice live on light-colored birds, whereas dark-colored lice live on dark-colored birds.
Q & A: The Hair of My Chin:
If I tweeze out the single hair that grows from a facial mole, will it cause cancer, as my friend insists?
Tasty Vegan Food? Cupcakes Show It Can Be Done:
Vegan eating has had a growth spurt in recent years, but a victory on a Food Network baking show this summer has showered attention on vegan food's fine taste.
Personal Health: Weight Problems May Begin in the Womb:
Excessive weight gain in pregnancy can result in bigger-than-average babies who are prenatally programmed to become overweight children.
Really?: The Claim: The Day’s Events are Incorporated Into That Night’s Dreams.:
Scientists have discerned a peculiar but predictable pattern in which dreams tend to occur.
Words Cannot Express:
Guy Deutscher’s argument about the basis of language is informed by the way we perceive and name colors.
Computers as Invisible as the Air:
Computers may simply melt away like the Cheshire Cat, and become imbedded in all the objects that make up daily life.
Taming the Wild Tuna:
A domesticated version of the giant Atlantic bluefin means what, exactly, for the species?
Questions on Deep-Sea Biology:
Jeffrey Marlow answers questions about deep-sea vents at Hydrate Ridge.
Interviews on Water Use Are Thirsty Work:
Learning which water sources villagers use and how far they carry heavy jerrycans of water is itself thirsty work in the Rwandan heat.
When It Comes to Car Batteries, Moore's Law Does Not Compute:
A team at the Almaden Research Center of I.B.M. in California is trying to develop a new battery technology called lithium air that could allow a car to go 500 miles on a single charge. But a top researcher says that it will take many years, if it ever happens at all, to make the technology useful.
Turkey Joins Europe, Electrically Speaking:
Turkey may be frustrated in its bid to become part of the European Union, but by the end of September, it will join Europe's electric grid.
Voice From the Next Offshore Oil Frontier:
The energy industry centered in Prudhoe Bay is the economic engine of the North Slope, helping preserve the Inupiat culture, but it also presents a potential threat to that culture. Mayor Edward Itta of the North Slope Borough e-mailed answers to our questions about these conflicts.
Labor (Less) Day?:
Is working less the only way to get more people working?
Letters: Headaches and Bedtime (1 Letter):
Letters to the editor.
Letters: Not for Men Only (1 Letter):
Letters to the editor.
Letters: Identical Values (1 Letter):
Letters to the editor.
Letters: Putting Babies at Risk (1 Letter):
Letters to the editor.
Letters: The Bedbug Files (2 Letters):
Letters to the editor.