Around the World in 80 Ways offers a (sometimes opinionated) discussion of 80 data-driven maps of our planet. Taken together, the maps tell a story about the physical world; about the impact our species is having on the world; and about how people live in the world – or at least how we lived immediately before the emergence of Covid-19. The maps lie. All maps lie. But the origins of the deceptions are explained, the data sources are signposted and referenced, and the readers are shown how to create their own maps using freely available software. The reader is thus armed with the tools needed to explore local, national or world data – on topics ranging from science to society; environment to entertainment; wealth to wellbeing – a valuable skill in an age when certain politicians are happy to refer to “alternative facts” and media outlets deliver data visualizations that sometimes mislead as much as inform.
Author(s): Stephen Webb
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 224
City: Cham
Acknowledgments
Contents
Mapping the World
1 Map Projections
2 Map Conventions
3 What Is a Country Anyway?
4 Visualising the Data
5 Collecting and Interpreting the Data
6 A Moment in Time
7 Questions, Questions
The World Itself
1 Earth´s Poles (Map 1)
2 Meteorites (Map 2)
3 Waterworld (Map 3)
4 Getting Away from It All (Map 4)
5 The Longest Straight Line You Can Sail (Map 5)
6 The Longest Straight Line You Can Walk Without Getting Your Feet Wet (Map 6)
7 Volcanic Eruptions Over the Past 12,000 Years (Map 7)
8 Forests (Map 8)
9 Chemical Elements Named After Places on Earth (Map 9)
10 Earth´s Phosphorus (Map 10)
The World of Countries
11 Countries Named After People (Map 11)
12 The Gender Gap (Map 12)
13 Female Leaders (Map 13)
14 Flags Containing Red (Map 14)
15 Passport Colours (Map 15)
16 Driving: Left or Right? (Map 16)
17 Capital Punishment (Map 17)
18 Press Freedom (Map 18)
19 Dominance of a Capital City (Map 19)
20 Population Density (Map 20)
The World Perturbed by People
21 Carbon Dioxide Emissions (Map 21)
22 My Short-Haul Carbon Footprint (Map 22)
23 Busiest Airline Routes (Map 23)
24 Renewable Electricity (Map 24)
25 Nuclear Power Generation (Map 25)
26 Trash (Map 26)
27 Plastic Waste (Map 27)
28 Pesticide Use (Map 28)
29 Mammal Species Under Threat (Map 29)
30 Night Sky Brightness (Map 30)
The World of the Built Environment
31 Homes at Risk of Rising Sea Levels (Map 31)
32 Lighthouses (Map 32)
33 World Heritage Sites (Map 33)
34 Roman Amphitheatres (Map 34)
35 The 100 Tallest Buildings (Map 35)
36 Spaceports (Map 36)
37 The 500 Most Powerful Supercomputers (Map 37)
38 Mains Frequency (Map 38)
39 Sharing a McDonald´s (Map 39)
40 Soccer Stadia (Map 40)
The World of Thoughts, Ideas, and Beliefs
41 The Most Complex Machine Ever Built (Map 41)
42 Scientific Productivity (Map 42)
43 Intellectual Property (Map 43)
44 Views on the Safety of Vaccines (Map 44)
45 Good at Maths? (Map 45)
46 Literacy (Map 46)
47 Marking Time (Map 47)
48 UFO Sightings (Map 48)
49 How the World Believes (Map 49)
50 The Happiness of Nations (Map 50)
The World of Wellbeing
51 Homicide (Map 51)
52 Suicide (Map 52)
53 Obesity in Adults (Map 53)
54 Alcohol Consumption (Map 54)
55 Road Traffic Deaths (Map 55)
56 Incidence of Malaria (Map 56)
57 Experience of Pain Yesterday (Map 57)
58 How the World Dies (Map 58)
59 The Life Expectancy Gender Gap (Map 59)
60 Life Expectancy at Birth (Map 60)
The World of Sport and Leisure
61 Football World Cup (Map 61)
62 Success at the Summer Olympics (Map 62)
63 Success at the Summer Paralympics (Map 63)
64 Chess Playing Strength (Map 64)
65 Shakespeare´s World (Map 65)
66 Nobel Prize for Literature (Map 66)
67 Going to the Movies (Map 67)
68 Computer Games (Map 68)
69 What the World Is Searching For (Map 69)
70 Active on Social Media (Map 70)
The World of Economics
71 Accessing Cash (Map 71)
72 Units of Currency (Map 72)
73 Gold Reserves (Map 73)
74 The Indebtedness of Nations (Map 74)
75 Standard of Living (Map 75)
76 Big Apple (Map 76)
77 International Tourism (Map 77)
78 Military Expenditure (Map 78)
79 Access to Electricity (Map 79)
80 Catching Fish (Map 80)
Appendix A: Afterword
Appendix B: Notes and Sources
B.1 The World Itself
B.2 The World of Countries
B.3 The World Perturbed by People
B.4 The World of the Built Environment
B.5 The World of Ideas, Thoughts, and Beliefs
B.6 The World of Wellbeing
B.7 The World of Sport and Leisure
B.8 The World of Economics
Appendix C: Technical Appendix
C.1 Data Set
C.2 Shapefile
C.3 Data Analysis and Visualisation
References
Index
