How Emma Willard Mapped Time in the Nineteenth Century
This week I had the privilege of posting a story for the Public Domain Review on Emma Willard, one of the most influential educators in the nineteenth century. For decades,...
graphs and timelines Posts
A History of America in 100 Maps
I’m proud to announce that my new book–A History of America in 100 Maps–is now available in the US! It is co-published by the British Library Press and the University...
The twisted history of political mapping
We live in what is endlessly described as an era of unprecedented partisanship, with Americans polarized into red and blue camps and no convergence in sight. But much of the...
Mapping the progress of the Union Army
One of the most intriguing cartographic developments in the nineteenth century was the effort to map the past. Experiments with historical mapping can be found in the eighteenth century, but...
Alexander von Humboldt: master of infographics
Last month I presented a paper at the Nebenzahl Lectures on the History of Cartography in Chicago. My subject was cartographic innovation during the early American republic — essentially the...
The earliest American attempt to chart climate?
Last week I was delighted to find what I believe is the earliest American attempt to chart patterns of climate and its effect upon agriculture and vegetation, drawn by Simeon...
New exhibit of historic maps at the University of Denver
This week the University of Denver will open its remodeled library, although the building has been renamed the “academic commons.” The new space is beautiful, and will include an exhibit...
The legacy of Francis Amasa Walker: graphic, infographic, and cartographic
This past week I wrote a piece for Fast Company Design about the legacy of Francis Amasa Walker. As the Superintendent of the 9th Census in 1870, Walker took the...
A picture of American faith
I have a piece today in Fast Company Design about the nineteenth-century origins of modern infographics, both thematic maps but also other forms of graphic knowledge like timelines. One of...
Charting the flow of political power
Timelines were very popular in the nineteenth century, in classrooms as well as living rooms. An intriguing example is this “Conspectus of the History of Political Parties” (1880). Created just...