Month: February 2026

Da Vinci’s Maps

Published on by Jonathan Crowe
An octant map of the world circa 1514, showing the globe in eight pieces, that is increasingly attributed to Leonardo da Vinci.
Leonardo da Vinci’s authorship of this 1514 octant map of the world has been disputed over the years.

Miguel García Álvarez looks at the maps of Leonardo da Vinci. “Leonardo never wrote a treatise on geography, as Ptolemy did, but his understanding of the territory and the importance of finding effective ways to represent it was far ahead of his contemporaries. I could simply leave you with his collection of maps, and I guarantee you would be fascinated by their beauty. Instead, I am going to limit myself to just three and use them to illustrate how he achieved three crucial advances in the early 16th century that are fundamental to understanding the history of geography.”

See also Christopher Tyler, “Leonardo da Vinci’s World Map,” Cosmos and History 13 (2017).

One-Day Oxford Symposium Explores Digital and Analog Maps

Published on by Jonathan Crowe

Maps: Digital | Analogue is a one-day symposium from the Sunderland Collection, held in conjunction with the Bodleian Libraries, taking place on 26 February 2026. “Discover the secrets that digitisation can reveal about historical maps and atlases, explore the world of online gaming maps, learn about globes and conservation, and find out all about the colours and pigments used in early cartography.” Free registration, streamed and in-person at Oxford’s Weston Library.

Previously: Oculi Mundi.

A Zero Declination World Map

Published on by Jonathan Crowe
Bad Map Projection #216: Zero Declination. A world map in cylindrical projection distorted so that up is magnetic north. (Randall Munroe, xkcd, 13 Feb 2026.)
Randall Munroe, “Bad Map Projection: Zero Declination,” xkcd, 13 Feb 2026.

The Bad Map Projection series of xkcd cartoons are mischievous and brain-melting but often as not come with a kernel of truth. Last Friday’s is a case of geomagnetorectification, distorting the map to line up true north with magnetic north. Is it wrong that I think it’s more interesting than brain-melting?

Toronto’s New Transit Map, and Its Mapmaker

Published on by Jonathan Crowe

With two new light rail lines opening in Toronto recently, the Toronto Transit Commission has had to update the maps of its subway, light rail and streetcar network, which appear in its stations and vehicles. CBC News has a short piece about the man responsible for updating those maps: the TTC’s mapmaker, Alex Blackwell. (Here’s a link to a PDF version of the map—the squarish version, not the extremely horizontal one on vehicles.)

Warning Signs

Published on by Jonathan Crowe

Adam Simmons sees some warning signs for geographers and the geospatial industry after watching the archives of the American Geographical Society’s 2025 Symposium (see the YouTube playlist).

The event, held back in November at Columbia University under the banner Geography 2050: The Future of GeoAI, was meant to be a victory lap. It was billed as the moment the “science of where” finally merged with the “science of artificial intelligence” to save the planet.

But viewing the footage now, in the cold, gray light of early 2026, the recordings feel less like a conference proceeding and more like the flight data recorder of a crash we should have seen coming.

Among other things: a disconnect between industry and academia, the loss of geography departments, and above all, multiple disruptions, threats and harms from AI.

WCVB’s Chronicle Looks at Maps

Published on by Jonathan Crowe

Looks like Boston TV channel WCVB’s Chronicle newsmagazine turned its attention to maps last week: there were profiles of Map Center owner Andrew Middleton, cartographer Andy Woodruff and the Leventhal Map Center, plus pieces on brain mapping, forensic mapping and MassGIS. (The clips are also available on the Chronicle YouTube channel.)

The Peoples of North America in 1776

Published on by Jonathan Crowe
The Peoples of North America in 1776: a map from the Utah Historical Society showing the location of indigenous groups and colonial communities.
Utah Historical Society

Classroom materials and maps produced by the Utah Historical Society for the State of Utah’s commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States include this rather interesting map of the peoples of North America in 1776. It shows “colonial communities” alongside Indigenous language groups. [John Garrison Marks]

The Cold War Seen Through Polar Projections

Published on by Jonathan Crowe

On The Conversation, James Cheshire looks at the Cold War-era maps that news magazines commissioned to explain the geopolitical situation to their readers. “Their maps were large, dramatic and designed to be spread across kitchen tables and classroom desks. And they also offered a very different perspective to the mainstream maps we have become accustomed to today.” Which is to say: polar projections were front and centre.

Le Jour de la Carte

Published on by Jonathan Crowe

More than a hundred map-related events are taking place today (4 February 2026) in France, plus a few elsewhere, as part of the first Jour de la Carte (Day of the Map).

Une centaine d’événements organisés par des acteurs publics, privés, éducatifs, culturels, associatifs, citoyens et citoyennes sont prévus en France et à l’étranger, pour réaffirmer le rôle essentiel de la carte comme outil pour faire démocratie, permettant à chacun de comprendre, de débattre et d’agir sur son territoire.

The organizing body is called La République des Cartes, whose members include cartographers and academics, and the goal is expressly political (in a civil-society sense, one that strikes me as quite French).

La République des cartes est une coalition mue par un objectif : replacer la cartographie au cœur du débat démocratique. L’actualité géopolitique des derniers mois livre de multiples exemples, – tels que le changement d’appellation du Golfe du Mexique ou la situation du Groenland – de l’importance des cartes. Pour se représenter le monde autrement, collectivement, déployer une politique sur les territoires et accompagner la transition environmentale grâce à la carte.

Quotes from the press release. Looks like the goal is to make this an annual event.