It’s important to have aspirations. I’m still in the very first stages of learning things about GIS. So far, most of what I’ve done is make choropleth maps slightly better than an over-achieving 9th grader with a big box of colored pencils. I’m excited to learn more though, and to that end I’ve started keeping a file of amazing maps. Some are obvious-in-retrospect simple, some are look-at-it-for-days complex and some, well, some are just beautiful.
Check out this Geologic Map of the Near Side of the Moon:
Geologic Map of the Near Side of the Moon
by Don E. Wilhelms and John F. McCauley (1971)
(U.S. Geological Survey map I-703)
I mean, I have an affinity for moon maps*. My room is decorated with two pull-out maps from 1970’s National Geographics. But this one is worth ordering a print and then planning your room around it, at least to me. It’s not terribly informative without it’s legend (which is another neat little piece of data visualization, all laid out in a table). But it still manages to give a sense of the moon’s contours and elevations. But mostly, its just gorgeous.
H/T: Aubrey Drescher’s “Map Production” series
*It’s a long story, which starts with reading Veronica by Nicholas Christopher in a fit of quasi-megalomania. I highly recommend all his books.
Veronica Beaty 