The Spectacular Lies of Maps

Slides from a talk given at Camp Digital in Manchester on July 3, 2025.

» Web page with references and more information.

Transcript

1. THE SPECTACULAR LIES OF MAPS PER AXBOM Earthrise. Photo by William Anders, 1968.
2. Raise your hand and keep it raised as long as you agree with my statements.
3. Raise your hand and keep it raised as long as you agree with my statements. I have lied.
4. Raise your hand and keep it raised as long as you agree with my statements. I have lied to someone I care about.
5. Raise your hand and keep it raised as long as you agree with my statements. I believe I will continue to lie in the future.
6. Raise your hand and keep it raised as long as you agree with my statements. I’ve made design decisions with insufficient data.
7. Raise your hand and keep it raised as long as you agree with my statements. I will continue to make design decisions with insufficient data.
8. Raise your hand and keep it raised as long as you agree with my statements. I trust maps to give me accurate information.
9. Raise your hand and keep it raised as long as you agree with my statements. The Earth is flat.
10. Earthrise. December 24, 1968. Taken by astronaut William Anders during the Apollo 8 mission, the first crewed voyage to orbit the Moon. The three astronauts were William Anders, Frank Borman and James Lovell.
12. Anders: Oh my God! Look at that picture over there! There's the Earth coming up. Wow, that's pretty. Borman: Hey, don't take that, it's not scheduled. (joking) Anders: (laughs) You got a color film, Jim? Hand me that roll of color quick, would you… Lovell: Oh man, that's great!
13. 18 months after the Apollo 8 astronauts took this photo, 20 million people took to the streets across the US to protest environmental destruction in the first ever Earth Day.
14. “It shows the Earth that we all live on, a little blue sphere set within this black expanse. It suggests everything from fragility to our uniqueness.” – Michael Pritchard, programmes director at the Royal Photographic Society in the UK
15. There are no lines in space.
16. There are no lines in space. Humans started drawing them to make sense of the world.
17. Imago Mundi 2,600-year-old Babylonian clay tablet mythology, astronomy, geography discovered in Sippar, an ancient Babylonian city along the Euphrates River, housed at the British Museum
18. Properties of maps Size Dominance Centricity Omission Exaggeration Distortion Mythology Perspective
21. Middle East Doctor of Technoscience Studies just very, very curious…
22. Middle East Doctor of Technoscience Studies just very, very curious… Middle East?
23. Geographically, there’s very little ‘east’ in the Middle East. The region known as 'the Middle East' actually encompasses some of the most northern parts of Africa and South-West Asia.
24. 西 3 0 - 0 0 % た め 。 D A N KNE 俄 〇 叶 卡 捷 班 堡 ※ ⽥ 洲 に 海 外 正 ⽇ の 。 啊 ◎ 的 婴 波 趣 ： 阿 尔 及 利 亚 利 ⽐ 亚 埃 及 ⾥ 塔 尼 俳 沙 特 阿 拉 伯 感 尼 ⽇ 尔 E 忽 但 弘 “ ⽆ 路 虾 ⽪ 茶 爾 ⼟ 楼 恋 拉 利 路 利 ⽐ ⾥ 变 杏 布 段 亚 的 糖 享 贝 巴 ⽔ 過 门 内 亚 ⼀ 巫 名 美 和 盐 绣 配 北 ， お ⼲ 込 务 © 肇 加 途 沙 5 主 共 系 3 罗 安 沽 洲 叉 葛 拉 门 达 加 斯 加 印 升 詰 数 。 特 翠 斯 期 - 达 潭 记 返 群 岛 马 拉 何 斯 塔 枘 ◎ ※ 克 斯 坦 乌 兰 巴 托 。 中 华 ⼈ 民 共 和 国 洲 新 德 座 ？ 9 ポ セ え 洋 南 西 经 O ' 东 经 澳 斯 ⼤ 利 亚 极 尼 好 $ 洲 ⽪ 耖 忽 恩 群 恋 I • 洲 微 地 ⽯ ど 次 郡 島 ｜ 賞 爵 斯 达 繁 憝 加 椁 加 步 近 特 ⽴ 尼 达 和 多 巴 番 委 内 瑞 拉 。 乖 治 效 冬 ⾮ 波 砾 ⼤ 哥 佗 ⽐ 亚 厄 ⽠ 多 尔 巴 西 9 ⽥ 新 玻 利 鉎 亚 苏 克 露 e a 워 요 安 托 法 加 斯 路 6 蚤 地 ⾖ 哥 © 0 科 祭 纺 ⽡ 洲 ， ＆ 拉 ま 布 宜 诺 府 艾 利 婚 whited 西
28. “Really interesting visual information is a little bit like a puzzle. You’re solving it.” Rebecca Solnit – Author of “Infinite City: A San Francisco Atlas.”
29. But are you solving it correctly?
31. Cylindrical map projection
35. W o r k s p a c e s l The True Size Of ... @ thetruesize.com/ The True Size Of ... eg... Australia About | Clear Map | Privacy Policy © 2022 The True Size. A l l rights reserved. U n i t e d States Mexico C u b a P u e r t o R i c o Guatemala Nicaragua Venezuela Guyana Colombia Brazil Bolivia Paraguay Argentina ruguay L a b r a d o r e N o r t h Ocean Google Q- Search DuckDuckGo Finland Ireland Kno D e n m a r k . Poland) _Germany Belarus A u s t i a Ukraine France KN italy Spain Portugal Greece Tunisia Morocco Western Algeria L i b y a Egypt Mauritania M a l i Burkina, Guinea- C h a n g Niger Chad Sudan Nigeria Gabon DRC Angola Z a m b i a M o z a m b i q u e N a m i b i a Z i m b a b w e B o t s w a n a ~ Madagascar South O c e a n S o u t h A f r i c a Russia traq tran Saudi Arabia Kazakhstan K y r g y z s t a n Afghanistan P a k i s t a n Omar N e p a l C India Y emen Mongolia China South Korea Japan North Ocean| Malaysia Indonesia Papua New C e o l Australia Z e a l a n d Keyboard shortcuts M a p data © 2 0 2 5 Google, I N E G I T e r m s
36. If this happens to size, what then happens to distance?
40. What is the spectacular lie in this map?
42. 6400 km 7200 km Chad • Layers United Kingdom Germany Austria B e l a r u s U k r a i n e Egypt Türklye Sudan Syra trag R u s s i a Ethiopia Saudi Arabia SomaliaYemen Turkmenistan Iran Oman Afghanistan Kyrgyzstan 89. Path or polygon u Click points o n the map to draw a path or polygo Length 6,401.59 k m Heading 10.67° ⼜Save to project J a p a n South Korea
43. ① W o r k s p a c e s - * The True Size Of ... Google Earth © thetruesize.com The True Size Of ... e g . . Germany About | Clear Map | Privacy Policy © 2022 T h e T rue Size. A l l rights reserved. r e e n l a n d North Western m a u r i t a n i a Google S w e d e r France C B o l a r u s Poland, Germany Austria R o m a n t Turkiye Algeria L i b y a Egypt Saudi Arabia Niger Chad Sudan Nigeria Ethiop D R C anzanie A n g o l a Z a m b i aM o z a m b i g u r Namibia Z i m b a b w e B o t s w a n a » Madagascar K U S S o China South Korea Myanma Burma)_ alland Vietnam m P h i l i p p i n e s Malaysia I n d o n e s i a Q - Search DuckDuckGo A T C H I C U C e 0 l Japan Papua New ロ - 100 % | 1 4 : 2 2
44. ⼜ A Workspaces h e The T rue Size O f ... © thetruesize.com • Google Earth The True Size Of ... e g . Germany About | Clear Map | Privacy Policy © 2022 T h e T rue Size. A l l rights reserved. r e e n t a n d Iceland North Google s w e d e r Norway United D e n m a r k Ireland •Kingdon P o l a n d B e l a r u s , Germany Ukraine Austria rance r o m a n i a Portugal Türkiye Western Algeria L i b y a Egypt Saudi Arabia m a u r i t a n i a Niger B u r k i n Chad Sudan Nigeria Ethiop D R C inzani Angola Zambi, Namibia M o z a m b i q u Z i m b a b w e B o t s w a n a Madagascar Kyrgyzstan China South Korea Thailand Vietnam a m P h i l i p p i n e s Malaysia Indonesia Q - Search DuckDuckGo A r c t i c o c e a n Papua New ⽇ - 100 % 14:23
45. Layers Path or polygon ？ Click points o n the map t o draw a path o r polygon Length 8,423.46 km Q Save to project
49. The route of Emirates flight EK225, Dubai to San Francisco
50. The route of Emirates flight EK225, Dubai to San Francisco
51. The route of Emirates flight EK225, Dubai to San Francisco
52. The route of Emirates flight EK225, Dubai to San Francisco
55. I % The Irue size Of. G o o d l e z a r t h earth.google.com/web/search/Kaliningrad,«Kaliningrad+Oblast,+Russia/@-48.89853083,177.47120488,-3923.87071485a,12728343.21976662 Q * S e a r c h DuckDuckGo V P N Tools I H e l o K a l i n i n g r a d , K a l i n i n a r a d O b l a s t , F ⽬ " P a t h o r p o l y g o n P a p u a N e c l i c k points o n the map to draw a path o r polygon L e n g t h 20.711.47 km s a v e t o p r o j e c t " L a v e r ' s G o o g l e . D a t a a t t r i b u t i o n
56. “The problem was approached as a purely mathematical exercise. The authors do not recommend sailing along the found paths.” Disclaimer.
57. Do try this at home.
58. The video is without sound. A Strange Map Projection (Euler Spiral) - Numberphile, with Hannah Fry
60. Goode homolosine projection pseudocylindrical, equal-area The orange-peel map
65. Tissot’s indicatrix Globe
67. What are the options?
68. Cylindrical Conic Azimuthal https://www.mathworks.com/help/map/the- three-main-families-of-map-projections.html
69. Azimuthal
70. Stab-Werner projection pseudoconic equal-area Cordiform ‘emotions’
71. R E C E N S I N T E G R A O R B I S D E S C R I P T I O 2 E R T O R O N T I V S F . DELPH. REGT- HEMATIC® FACIEBAT
72. C L I M A , Q U A R , F AV O SVESOLANVS A F T I C V S V I T U R A N S E V R O N G I V S N O T V S
73. Robinson projection neither equal-area nor conformal (a compromise)
74. Winkel tripel projection goal of minimizing three kinds of distortion: area, direction, and distance
75. Gall-Peters projection Cylindrical equal-area
77. Sinu-Mollweide Waterman butterfly Peirce Quincuncial
78. The Authagraph Hajime Narukawa worked for 6 years on this map, and won the 2016 Good Design Awards - Grand Award. https://curiosity.com/topics/the-authagraph-is-the-worlds-most-accurate-map-curiosity/ made by equally dividing a spherical surface into 96 triangles, transferring it to a tetrahedron while maintaining area proportions, and unfolding it in the form of a rectangle: it is a polyhedral map projection
80. The Authagraph map projection centered on Europe Has been reverse engineered.
81. From the short-lived Globehead! Journal of Extreme Cartography: Catherine Reeves’ Equinational Projection, allocates each nation the exact same amount of space by reducing them all, equally, to a simple square. The UK is 178 The US is 179
82. Map by Ken Myers American ESL teacher, 2013 Radius: ~4,000 kilometres Center: South China Sea Winkel-Tripel map projection with a Valeriepieris circle
83. Map by Ken Myers American ESL teacher, 2013 Radius: ~4,000 kilometres Center: South China Sea Winkel-Tripel map projection with a Valeriepieris circle What is the spectacular lie in this map?
84. Map by Riaz Shah professor at Hult International Business School. Radius: ~3,300 kilometres Center: Mong Khet in Myanmar includes the Himalayas, desolate regions of Siberia, and Mongolia, the world’s least densely populated country A proper circle.
85. Some theories suggest that Australia is in fact Scooby-Doo
86. [W]e strongly urge book and map publishers, the media and government agencies to cease using rectangular world maps for general purposes or artistic displays. Such maps promote serious, erroneous conceptions by severely distorting large sections of the world […]” Resolution adopted by seven North American cartographic societies in 1989:
87. You won’t believe what happened next.
88. The Web Mercator adopted by Google in 2005 also known as Google Web Mercator, Spherical Mercator, WGS 84 Web Mercator or WGS 84/Pseudo-Mercator Spatial systems: EPSG 900913, 3857, 3785, 3587 Used by virtually all major online map providers
89. Globe Ellipse EARTH Ellipse Geographic coordinates (longitude/latitude are defined on curved a 2D surface. This can be an ellipsoid (most data) or sphere (very rarely). Both projections can have an equation. + ellipsoid + + sphere sphere = Conformal (correct angles) = Conformal (correct angles) = Non-Conformal (wrong) PROJECTION/EQUATION
90. “The Web Mercator is a mistake that got out of control. It distorts everything*.” *shapes, angles, areas, distances, directions, rhumb lines, compass bearings, etceteras… – Bojan Šavrič – cartographer, PhD in geography, author of projectionwizard.org
91. Use Literally Anything but Web Mercator [YouTube]
92. Not accepted by standardisation orgs "We have reviewed the coordinate reference system used by Microsoft, Google, etc. and believe that it is technically flawed. We will not devalue the EPSG dataset by including such inappropriate geodesy and cartography.” Geodesy subcommittee of the OGP's Geomatics committee
93. The unofficial code EPSG:900913 came to be used. EPSG Geodetic Parameter Dataset (also EPSG registry) is a public registry of geodetic datums and spatial reference systems. EPSG 1024–32767
94. The unofficial code EPSG:900913 came to be used. EPSG Geodetic Parameter Dataset (also EPSG registry) is a public registry of geodetic datums and spatial reference systems. EPSG 1024–32767
95. The unofficial code EPSG:900913 came to be used. GOOGLE transliterated to numbers
96. “[I]magine if all of Google's data and programming ability was suddenly in the hands of a Namibian agriculturalist, a Sahelian nomad or a Senegalese fisherwoman – the maps they would conjure up would be completely different. They might well prioritise soil types over Starbucks, wells over Walmarts and the state of land degradation over panoramic street views of American towns.” – James Wan, The Guardian
97. With better ways to visualize the world humans are better equipped to address Earth’s challenges. What would it take to do better?
98. Please pay a LOT of money to make the “top” world look smaller. AND to confuse your constituents. It’s a tough argument to make.
99. Well yes Would it be make maps more accurate?
100. Would it be make maps more accurate? Well yes And no
101. A cartographer is also… a designer. with deadlines, insufficient data, cultural biases, a budget – and an agenda. Can be an agent of power.
102. Who made this tool, why and under what constraints? Whose power is being wielded? What is the data source and is it the right one for the job? What is being left out, added or distorted? For all maps, please ask… What assumptions are being made and/or conveyed? Who stands to lose from the use of this tool?
103. Who made this tool, why and under what constraints? Whose power is being wielded? What is the data source and is it the right one for the job? What is being left out, added or distorted? For all maps, please ask… tools What assumptions are being made and/or conveyed? Who stands to lose from the use of this tool?
104. Hera Hussain – participatory design, how do we give people more power over the maps they use? Matt Jukes – working in the open, be a superhero fan Alex Blandford & Katherine Wastell – change is hard,but you have the tools to make it happen Dr Zeynep Engin – it’s super important that we understand trustworthiness in human-machine collaborations Ignacia Orellana & Clara Greo – map the pain points to understand the costs Claire Dellar – imagine the potential of the 100% perspective to mapping! What did we learn today?
105. "We set out to explore the moon and instead discovered the Earth." William Anders – Astronaut who took the Earthrise photograph in 1968 together with Jim Lovell and Frank Borman
106. The Earth is flat.
107. I have acted as if the Earth is flat when I have underestimated how much flat maps distort the world.
108. Maps need lines.
109. Maps need lines. And you need to understand what the lines say.
110. Understanding what the lines say will help us all take better care of our home.
111. Choosing new lines when you talk about the world can help you talk about it differently.
112. You can start changing the world today. Truly and literally. Thank you.
113. You can start changing the world today. Truly and literally. Thank you. Slides, links, videos, references and more: axbom.com/cdmaps