Don't Panic Geocast

Maps are useful things, but it turns out that projecting a 3D object on a 2D map can cause a lot of unexpected problems. They even inspired an XKCD comic. This week we explore maps and map projections. We also chat about machine learning as part of #FunPaperFriday. What’s the big problem? The Earth is a sphere, actually it’s an ellipsoid, actually it’s really bumpy and messy Taking 3D information and pushing in onto a 2D medium means that you must sacrifice something, you are losing a dimension with which you can express information. Projections are a well thought out as researched problem, even in pure mathematics. You have to pick a projection that will tell you want you need to know accurately, and know that you lose some other information. There is even a West Wing clip about this A few examples of projection problems There are geographical properties that we care about: area, shape, direction, conformality, distance, scale… and you can’t get them all at once. In fact, some it’s hard to get more than a