Mapping Magnetism
Posted by: Abraham Parrish
An exploration of Earth’s magnetic field through maps.
Posted in: 16th century cartography, 18th century cartography, 19th century cartography, 20th century cartography
Category: 20th century cartography
Florence Bascom and her Contributions to the Field of Geology
Posted by: Cynthia Smith
Florence Bascom broke barriers in the 19th century as a leading geologist of her time. This post discusses her life and career with the United States Geological Survey including the geologic maps she made which are in the Geography and Map Division collections.
Posted in: 19th century cartography, 20th century cartography, Biography, Women's History
A Unique Perspective – Unusual Topographic Maps in the Collections
Posted by: Julie Stoner
The Geography and Map Division has thousands of topographic maps in its collections but some have a unique take on the rest of the category. This blog post highlights several maps and models that stand out as being different in form and shape from other topographic maps including a chocolate bar map, a pop up map, and a map made of compressed paper among others.
Posted in: 20th century cartography, Physical Geography
Every Bridge and Meadow: The Austro-Hungarian Empire in 19th Century Maps
Posted by: Amelia Raines
The Geography & Map Division recently digitized an important set of maps of Austria-Hungary. In this post, we explore these 19th- and early 20th-century maps and the layers of history and language that they contain.
Posted in: 19th century cartography, 20th century cartography, European History
Globe Gores
Posted by: Abraham Parrish
Learn about the purpose and variety of terrestrial and celestial printed globe gores. Globe gores are strips of paper containing printed maps in the sizes and shapes needed for globe construction.
Posted in: 16th century cartography, 17th century cartography, 19th century cartography, 20th century cartography
The Oscillating Mirror that Changed Earth Science
Posted by: Meagan Snow
Learn about the development of the oscillating scan mirror (a key component of Virginia Norwood's multi-spectral scanner), which made Landsat I a success, changing the science of earth observation forever. The development of the oscillating scan mirror is documented in the "Virginia Norwood Papers," a new collection in the Geography & Map Division of the Library of Congress.
Posted in: 20th century cartography, Big Data and Visualization, Geographic Information Science, Physical Geography
No County for Old Management: America’s Independent Cities
Posted by: Lena Mattson
Most American cities are encompassed by one or more counties and overlap with them in jurisdiction, but there are 41 unique cases known as independent cities, and 38 of them are in Virginia. Read more to learn why!
Posted in: 19th century cartography, 20th century cartography, American History, Borders, City Histories