Digital Earth

Natural History, March, 2000 by Robert (American businessperson and engineer) Anderson

I have always loved maps in all their forms. Globes are especially nice because they show the world without the distortion that comes from flattening it. While I still prefer the kind I can spin with my hand, some of the Internet's three-dimensional representations of our planet display information that you won't get from old globes, with their outdated political boundaries.

The Great Globe Gallery (hum.amu.edu.pl/~zbzw/glob/glob1.htm) gathers together a remarkable number of globes and world maps, although most of the images lack proper captions. Exploring the whole gallery takes time, but finding images that show the planet in new ways is worth the effort. Click on any of the hundreds of gallery choices, and you'll be linked to the site where they originated. I particularly liked the "Atlas of Cyberspaces," which shows how the planet is wired, and "Breathing Earth," an interesting animation showing the global occurrence of earthquakes.

For map lovers, a wonderful new site called TopoZone (www.top ozone.com) offers U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps (adjustable to different scales) of any spot in the United States. You can search by latitude and longitude or by place name, but make sure to check Find Tips first, since place names must be put in the correct form. Before setting out on a weekend drive or hike, you can print out a map that shows every road and every rise and dip in the terrain. Although printed maps are undoubtedly nicer, the Internet versions are a lot easier to come by.

Robert Anderson is a freelance science writer based in Los Angeles.