7 ms·

I am wondering, are globes rare where you live? They do not suffer from any distortion. Changing maps does not help, there is a theorem that no faithful planar

I am wondering, are globes rare where you live? They do not suffer from any distortion. Changing maps does not help, there is a theorem that no faithful planar map of a sphere exists, the video is a bit short on this.

scoot 6y ago
For kids (and adults!) the LaapFrog interactive globe is superb. Not sure how much they've retained, but when they were younger, my kids could pinpoint every country on the globe, and knew the capital of every country. Edit: The model we had was much less sophisticated than that currently available (no screen or videos). It had, for example, fun speed games where it would name countries and you had to find them on the globe and tap them with the stylus, competing for who could find the most countries in a set time.
- TehShrike 6y ago
  I was excited to buy one for my kids, but apparently they may not have improved since then :-( https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RJ4ZQ1SDMKLNU/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RJ4ZQ1SDMKLNU/
  - scoot 6y ago
    I'm guessing there's a term for products that get worse by virtue of being "enhanced". They really should reintroduce the old model, just with updated political geography.
scythe 6y ago
You can't generally see two countries next to each other on a globe. The globe itself is accurate, but a human looking at a globe sees an orthographic projection up to binocular perspective, which is only accurate near the center. So you can't compare India to Brazil for example.
- bonoboTP 6y ago
  Sure you can, you just rotate the globe back and forth. You can even measure and compare it roughly using your fingers.
- joppy 6y ago
  Use two globes?
sergeykish 6y ago
And I wonder why inflatable ball globe are not that common? Much better than globe on axis.
JPKab 6y ago
They are in every single classroom in the US. A lot of kids, like the parent poster, just never look at them.
- andi999 6y ago
  Thats interesting. Here they usually are not in classrooms, but at home.
- Broken_Hippo 6y ago
  No, they really aren't. While there was a globe or two in different classrooms, most classes that needed maps of sorts had pull-down maps. Once we reached middle and high school, most classes didn't have maps. If I were building a modern school, I might not put physical maps in any classroom equipped with modern projection tools and smart boards.
lostlogin 6y ago
> They do not suffer from any distortion. You must be from the northern hemisphere. Globes seem to be mounted upside down usually, Antarctica belongs on top.
- ghayes 6y ago
  Is there a truly rationale basis here (other than “magnetic north” which is equally arbitrary and has rotated)? I’d argue since the vast majority of the world’s population lives in the northern hemisphere, it generally makes sense to put that at the top, all else being equal.
  - xvedejas 6y ago
    On the contrary, it makes the most sense to place some point of the equator on top, so that you can rotate to look at any part of the globe you want, surely?
    - slavik81 6y ago
      It's a lot easier to add the rest of the solar system if it rotates around the Earth horizontally, and you need that to explain the day/night cycle, seasons and tides.
    - samatman 6y ago
      Call me weird if you must, but I would prefer a globe rotate in the same fashion as the planet does: around the poles.
      - mkl 6y ago
        That's perfectly compatible with the poles being on the sides and the equator being on a vertical plane. In fact, many globes can be tilted to this position and the main rotation still happens around the poles.
        samatman 6y ago
Wildgoose 6y ago
I've had a globe since I was a young boy. I have an illuminated one in my study now. How better to explain "Great Circle" air travel?

scoot 6y ago

For kids (and adults!) the LaapFrog interactive globe is superb. Not sure how much they've retained, but when they were younger, my kids could pinpoint every country on the globe, and knew the capital of every country. Edit: The model we had was much less sophisticated than that currently available (no screen or videos). It had, for example, fun speed games where it would name countries and you had to find them on the globe and tap them with the stylus, competing for who could find the most countries in a set time.

TehShrike 6y ago
I was excited to buy one for my kids, but apparently they may not have improved since then :-( https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RJ4ZQ1SDMKLNU/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RJ4ZQ1SDMKLNU/
- scoot 6y ago
  I'm guessing there's a term for products that get worse by virtue of being "enhanced". They really should reintroduce the old model, just with updated political geography.

scythe 6y ago

You can't generally see two countries next to each other on a globe. The globe itself is accurate, but a human looking at a globe sees an orthographic projection up to binocular perspective, which is only accurate near the center. So you can't compare India to Brazil for example.

bonoboTP 6y ago
Sure you can, you just rotate the globe back and forth. You can even measure and compare it roughly using your fingers.
joppy 6y ago
Use two globes?

sergeykish 6y ago

And I wonder why inflatable ball globe are not that common? Much better than globe on axis.

JPKab 6y ago

They are in every single classroom in the US. A lot of kids, like the parent poster, just never look at them.

andi999 6y ago
Thats interesting. Here they usually are not in classrooms, but at home.
Broken_Hippo 6y ago
No, they really aren't. While there was a globe or two in different classrooms, most classes that needed maps of sorts had pull-down maps. Once we reached middle and high school, most classes didn't have maps. If I were building a modern school, I might not put physical maps in any classroom equipped with modern projection tools and smart boards.

lostlogin 6y ago

> They do not suffer from any distortion. You must be from the northern hemisphere. Globes seem to be mounted upside down usually, Antarctica belongs on top.

ghayes 6y ago
Is there a truly rationale basis here (other than “magnetic north” which is equally arbitrary and has rotated)? I’d argue since the vast majority of the world’s population lives in the northern hemisphere, it generally makes sense to put that at the top, all else being equal.
- xvedejas 6y ago
  On the contrary, it makes the most sense to place some point of the equator on top, so that you can rotate to look at any part of the globe you want, surely?
  - slavik81 6y ago
    It's a lot easier to add the rest of the solar system if it rotates around the Earth horizontally, and you need that to explain the day/night cycle, seasons and tides.
  - samatman 6y ago
    Call me weird if you must, but I would prefer a globe rotate in the same fashion as the planet does: around the poles.
    - mkl 6y ago
      That's perfectly compatible with the poles being on the sides and the equator being on a vertical plane. In fact, many globes can be tilted to this position and the main rotation still happens around the poles.
      - samatman 6y ago

Wildgoose 6y ago

I've had a globe since I was a young boy. I have an illuminated one in my study now. How better to explain "Great Circle" air travel?