Maphead

[econgator]

I was just reading the section about the Massacre and you mentioned that there was a distinction between being "on" a road and "upon" a road. I'm curious to know what the difference is.

[Ken Jennings]

I followed the somewhat erratic directions, looked around, and spotted the "cache" -- a 35 mm film canister. I felt.... nothing. I mean, I'd basically followed a blinking arrow.

Ha! To be fair, the book also points out that the ubiquity of the boring film canister cache is ruining the hobby for many people. It's a lot more fun if there's something clever or challenging about the hide or the container, or if the spot you're taken to is noteworthy in some way.

Or if there's crack hidden there.

[Ken Jennings]

I was just reading the section about the Massacre and you mentioned that there was a distinction between being "on" a road and "upon" a road. I'm curious to know what the difference is.

It's a side effect of the "course following" rules. Basically, if you're placed "on" a named/numbered road, you stick with that name/number until the next instruction. If you're just "upon" it, things like type of road and direction of travel have precedence.

I think I just made that less clear, not more.

[Molly1220]

Hi Ken,

Just wanted to say that I am enjoying Maphead tremendously. I am, in no particular order, a map geek, a weather geek, a geocacher and an ex-Jeopardy champ (but certainly not in your league or even your decade) and the book really speaks to me. I am also really enjoying your sense of humor.

When I was a kid and my girlfriends and I played Barbies back in the early 1960s, everyone's Ken doll went off to spend the day at some unnamed office in some unspecified job while the Barbie dolls spent their day changing in and out of outfits and tooling around in their pink sports cars. My Ken doll hung out by my globe and I told my friends he was a cartographer for the National Geographic. So the geekiness started many, many years ago.

Thanks for the great book!

[markj57]

Ken - loved Maphead! I saw the teaser article a few months ago and made a point of getting my hands on a copy as soon as it was available. Entertaining and informative, a great read.

You may already know this, but in your discussion of the Interstate highway system in the book you did not mention that N/S Interstates are 2 digit odd numbers, E/W Interstates are two digit even numbers, and the number itself tells you the % distance either from the west coast to the east coast or southern border to Canada. Some exceptions to the rule (I99 as you point out) but otherwise something a lot of people don't know.

On a totally different topic, the new ET Trail was released in August (1500 caches along highway 375 in Nevada) and myself and 3 other caching nuts decided to attempt to do it all in one day. Starting at midnight at ET0001, 4 guys in a pickup truck finished off the entire ET Trail by 9:13PM that same day, then drove the 45 minutes to Tonopah to the next closest cluster of caches and ended up with new one day caching record of 1564 caches. This was mentioned on a recent PodCacher podcast. For the record, I (markj57) was the junior cacher on the team (only 6000 finds). We also had Team Sand Dollar (15,000 finds), Team Geo-Ranger (23,000 finds), and Peasinapod (28,000 finds).

Hope you meet you someday - if you're ever in Scottsdale AZ and are looking for a caching guide, let me know!

Mark

[Boomchuck]

Heard about this book on NPR and then ordered it from Amazon. Just now reading it (it's my 'read at work' book) and am really enjoying it. One of my duties when I was in the Navy was as the Maps & Charts Petty Officer, so I got to play around with some real interesting maps.

Haven't seen this elsewhere, and maybe I didn't look far enough, but you stated that John Glenn was the first man to orbit the earth. He talked about how Florida looked just like on the maps. Yuri Gagarin actually gets credit for being not only the first man in space but also the first to orbit the earth. Minor detail in the book, but as a space and astronomy enthusiast as well it did stick out.

Again, great book. I enjoy your writing style.

edit... D'oh, I should have looked in another forum!

[Radagast]

Just finished the book - great stuff, lots of neat little facts that I never would have known about. The 'place-collecting' travellers were definitely a slice of society I'll never rub elbows with, some real characters.

I definitely think much of Ken's story is relatable to my own life; I also had a treasured atlas, in my case a giant National Geographic world volume (revised 3rd ed, 1970) that still has a space in my office. Ken's note about cartophilia coming from those wanting a solid anchor (a broken home in my case; that atlas was left behind by my Dad after the divorce) certainly seems to apply to me.

One aspect that I would have added had I written this, though, would be the one discipline that keeps paper maps at its very heart: the sport of orienteering. Indeed, it's their insanely detailed maps of parks, natural areas and forest reserves that drew me to this activity; even forest rangers or wildlife management personnel wouldn't need quite that level of detail, but orienteering cartographers can map individual trees, the smallest of footpaths and the minutest difference in the density and height of vegetation. And some orienteering maps have human-made landscapes as well, so you have to consider buildings not by their design but by their layout at ground level, whether they block the path of a runner or have open-air passages that can be navigated. Given the nature of the sport, this type of thing (though digitally encoded, for sure) will not be leaving the paper medium for its intended use anytime soon.

All the same, it's a very fine read, Ken, so many thanks for providing and engrossing weekend!

[Chiefkent]

I definitely think much of Ken's story is relatable to my own life; I also had a treasured atlas, in my case a giant National Geographic world volume (revised 3rd ed, 1970)!

In my case it was a revised 2nd edition - in a slip case with our last name embossed in gold upon it, that we got while in France in 1960. I'm a military-brat, (12 schools in 12 years type). My life long love of maps and places was diverted into a symbiotic love for history when while reading a bio of the Maid of Orleans on the school bus in 3rd grade, I realized that all of the place names in the book where also on the road signs! We were able to tour all the major battle sites of WWII in Europe when I was a kid. Our next door neighbor was a retired French Army General in the process of writing his memoirs so I had the opportunity(?) of learning military history from the French point of view, and visiting various battle sites around Poitiers dating from Tours to WWI. Then we moved to La Rochelle on the Bay of Biscay where I ran amok through the same alley ways that the Huguenots last walked. My Boy Scout troop camped out in the same woods described in, "The Three Musketeers"! (Also witnessed an OAS assassination attempt on L'Grande Charles there).

When DeGaulle kicked all US troops out of France and my father was transferred to W.Germany, I used to dive into the Moselle where an entire German Army surrendered, after being trapped in early 1945, for souvenirs to sell to the GI's! Even got my photo taken with the Lord Mayor of West Berlin, (one Willi Brandt), when our Scout Troop visited to see the newly completed "Wall". The VoPo's who inspected the US Army train even let all of the Boy Scouts check out their AK's, (whilst one watched out for Soviet GRU troops)! This was a couple of years post-"jelly donut" speech.

Maps were just a tad bit more important to all of us back then, but I was already a 'Maphead'! I watched for every border and helped plan our family vacations on the old Michelin maps so that we crossed as many borders as possible while visiting the sites of 1960's western Europe. Learned to drive in a Peugot 203, (5 on the column), when I was 10 because my father kept falling asleep when driving at night, (after working all day), while we were driving to visit my mother and new born sister outside Paris, on what passed for major highways back then.

When getting drafted, I joined the Navy, and made a career of it, primarily - for the opportunity for travel. On the discussion of spatial cogitation, I find that it is also the ability to organize internally one's own thoughts and ideas, as well as being able to visualize the concrete in abstract terms. I believe that those who have developed their spatial cogitative abilities to any degree also develop their abilities to both compartmentalize and mentally pre-plan "what-if's" as a matter of course. The mental pre-planning is more of a result of idle mental exercises caused by excessive reading, (for lack of a better word), causing a mental exercise of, "what would I do if...?" , and, "how would I feel/react if..."?

All of this came to my attention when I was sent to a shrink after being diagnosed with MS some 30 years ago by a team of physicians who felt that my reaction was atypical. I felt that it wasn't something that I could just give back and so began learning everything that I could it. After talking with the shrink for a while, we realized that I had abstractly thought at sometime, "what would I do if I ever lost a leg(s)"? I'd come up with the answer, "Sh*t happens and life goes on". (Also didn't hurt that I was exposed to a large number of French WWI vets in wheelchairs as a kid)! The shrink went back to the other docs and explained 'transference', and that they fully expected me to react as they thought that THEY would react with a similar diagnose. In a nutshell, we're weird. (Yes, I DID go through denial, but it lasted about 1 day when a good friend who's adult son had Cerebral Palsy, chewed my butt out for self-pity)!

[geomom]

In on eof the chapters of Maphead, you mention a geography activity where students are given a "blank" map (sometimes oriented "upside-down") and are instructed to figure out where they would build a town, etc. By a "blank" map, I assume you mean one that shows rivers, mountains, oceans etc. but not "human" features like towns etc? Can you direct me to a lesson plan for this activity?

[Ken Jennings]

In on eof the chapters of Maphead, you mention a geography activity where students are given a "blank" map (sometimes oriented "upside-down") and are instructed to figure out where they would build a town, etc. By a "blank" map, I assume you mean one that shows rivers, mountains, oceans etc. but not "human" features like towns etc? Can you direct me to a lesson plan for this activity?

Yes, that's the idea...physical features but no manmade ones. I don't know of a specific lesson plan (the original cite is actually to a research experiment, not to a curriculum) but you could do something similar with any physical map...the US, say, or your region thereof. The original researchers used a map of the Midwest.

[Dr. Baha'i]

I love maps and "Maphead." Early on, you make three clearly erroneous assertions and was wondering whether you will only talk to us if we spotted them. Guess not. Anyway: the two strictly rectangular states are, obviously, Colorado and Wyoming (not Utah).

Ardmore, AL couldn't possibly border on Ardmore, LA, as the two states are separated by Mississippi. Ardmore, AL does, however, border on Ardmore, TN.

You cite Weirton, WV as the only town bordering on two different states at opposite sides to it. We'll skip over such places as Memphis and I'll give you a pass on the obvious Washington, DC, but not very far from Weirton, and involving the states of WV and PA (as does Weirton), is Hancock, MD, where Maryland's waist is at its narrowest at a mere 1.8 mi.

All this is trivial. I really admire your ability to make the subject come alive. Wish I could write like you!

[PennsylvaniaRoll]

As a Chinese and sushi delivery driver, this book is pornographic. I've refused to use GPS (but geocaching makes it enticing) and, not to brag, I have my entire delivery network and county mapped out in head. Not as good as London cabbies, but I don't suffer from hippocampus-size envy. I love being a reference point for lost drivers, and when I'm somewhere new I always buy a map (no smartphone here). The book encompasses (pardon the pun) a lot about maps, but as I'm watching the History Channel's "How States Got Their Shape" I'm left wondering just what was left out of the book that you cut. To say, "I'm gonna write a book about maps." seems like writing something inexhaustible. Geography (as you rightly mentioned) covers every discipline. Thanks so much for this awesome book!

[Ken Jennings]

I love maps and "Maphead." Early on, you make three clearly erroneous assertions and was wondering whether you will only talk to us if we spotted them. Guess not. Anyway: the two strictly rectangular states are, obviously, Colorado and Wyoming (not Utah).

Ardmore, AL couldn't possibly border on Ardmore, LA, as the two states are separated by Mississippi. Ardmore, AL does, however, border on Ardmore, TN.

You cite Weirton, WV as the only town bordering on two different states at opposite sides to it. We'll skip over such places as Memphis and I'll give you a pass on the obvious Washington, DC, but not very far from Weirton, and involving the states of WV and PA (as does Weirton), is Hancock, MD, where Maryland's waist is at its narrowest at a mere 1.8 mi.

All this is trivial. I really admire your ability to make the subject come alive. Wish I could write like you!

Yeah, many have pointed out the Ardmore, TN glitch. It'll be fixed in the paperback.

You're the second person to ask about Hancock, MD...is it possible the city limits don't extend all the way to the state line on both sides, as is apparently the case with Weirton?

[Dr. Baha'i]

Re Hancock, MD: Well, I did look it up before making the comment, and according to Wikipedia it does touch both PA and WV. It's only 1.8 mi. wide, so that isn't a "stretch." My main question prior to that had been whether Hancock was actually incorporated. Apparently it is.

Sorry, tried to append this to the thread I started, but can't figure out how to do that.

[SaraE1010]

I am about 75% of the way through Maphead and am having trouble putting it down! I just finished Chapter 9 and I am very interested to find out how and when I can enter the Massacre challenge from Jim Sinclair. In 2010, before I turned 25 in October of that year, I completed a personal challenge to have seen all 50 states before my 25th birthday. From multiple cross country drives with many out of way stops (such as what is claimed to be the world's largest ball of twine in Cawker City, KS) to more frequented locations (Wall Drug and the Corn Palace in South Dakota), driving across this country is one of my favorite things (right up there next to talking about how much I love driving across this country). Your book has inspired me to plan another roadtrip - I think I need to finally plan out a long dreamed of roadtrip to all of the birthplaces of US Presidents and the existing US Presidential libraries. In light of this obvious roadgeekiness, I would love to enter Jim Sinclair's challenge and any information that you might send my way would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide! Happy Holidays!

[ScarletKnights]

My review of the book:

Meh.

This would have been a good magazine article, or a chapter in an autobiography.

To turn it into a book of its own took a lot of fluff.

[PaulyOH]

Ken,

I just got Maphead for Christmas. Started it last night and am halfway through. Absolutely love it so far. I've been continuously sharing interesting tidbits with my wife, and it's driving her crazy. I found out on our first long car trip together when we were dating that she was not into maps. Learned the hard way that she can't play navigator, and she got us about 10 miles out of the way of our destination.

I relate to this book so much. I first got obsessed with maps when I was 6 years old. Family was driving down I-75 moving from Ohio to south Florida. Mom gave me a little red pocket road atlas (some freebie from a real estate company I think). Anyway, by the end of the 1,000 mile trip I had memorized all the state capitals.

Reading about Benjamin Salman reminded me of myself. When I was around his age, I did much the same thing. I had graph paper, and taped together about 16-18 sheets and created my own fictional city. Although his map was better than mine...

Anyway, great job. Any plans for a trip to Ohio anytime soon?

[Ken Jennings]

Anyway: the two strictly rectangular states are, obviously, Colorado and Wyoming (not Utah).

Forgot to reply to this "clearly erroneous" issue. Merriam-Webster, rectangular: "having edges that meet at right angles." Like, obviously, Colorado and Utah.

My review of the book: Meh.

That is not a review. "Meh" is three-letter shorthand for "I am an uninteresting person with nothing to say." A one-word "Awesome!" review would be just as bad, I guess, though yours also says, "I'm a douche!"

I would love to enter Jim Sinclair's challenge and any information that you might send my way would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide!

A few people have asked that, so I put up a blog post today with links to Jim's site.

Any plans for a trip to Ohio anytime soon?

Not to my knowledge, sorry. I've heard from more than one person who, like you, did that create-a-fictional-world thing as a kid and had no idea they weren't the only one. Maybe you guys should form a club.

[Patrick]

Hey everyone! Another fellow maphead here. I received the book for Christmas and I'm really enjoying it so far!

1) Date correction: In the opening paragraph of the geocaching chapter, it reads May 1, 2001, instead of May 1, 2000. I was a college intern at Garmin in May 2000, and the turning off of selective availability was a BIG deal there when it happened, so I'm pretty sure that the date in the book is a typo.

2) For those who love maps (who doesn't if you are reading this forum?), you should check out the sport/hobby* of orienteering.

There's a common misconception (mainly portrayed by the Boy Scouts and military training) that it's mostly a laborious compass and pace-counting exercise, with little attention paid to maps. In reality, orienteering events require custom-made, uber-detailed maps of the terrain, no matter if the terrain is a completely urban area, a city park, or a wooded chunk of complex topography. It's all about the map reading and spatial-reasoning skills; in most cases, I can complete a course without consulting a compass!

The challenge is not only correctly navigating to a series of checkpoints, but also choosing the most efficient route to get there (do I take this trail around the hill, or do I go up and over?). In a way, it's like geocaching, but you're the GPS... and there aren't any annoying hidden film canisters!

Even though I earned orienteering merit badge as a kid, I never knew that this was a sport/hobby until a college friend (a geography major) invited me to a campus event after he noticed that I wallpapered my dorm room with maps! My guess is that many Maphead readers are just as map-loving as I am (and just as unaware of orienteering as a sport/hobby as I was prior to college). So, if you really get a kick out of maps, look up an orienteering event sometime!

* I say sport/hobby because it can be either. There are a few guys here that run a 4:30 mile and can track their navigational inefficiencies down to the second (these guys also compete internationally). And then there are a lot of families and recreational folks who just want to go on a leisurely walk in the park with a map in hand.

----

Ken, if you're reading this... There's a pretty good orienteering scene here in Seattle (I live here, too). If you ever have the time and interest in coming to one of the local events, I think you'd be among map-loving friends.

[Radagast]

I've always been well aware that one of my favourite magazines has a review column for books, maps and other media in its back pages, but I was surprised to see Maphead in the latest issue! They're quite appreciative as well (possibly partly due to the triple-island being 'ours'), and found the mix of fact and humour to work well.

It's the War of 1812 cover, if you're perusing (Canadian) newsstands.

[Ken Jennings]

1) Date correction: In the opening paragraph of the geocaching chapter, it reads May 1, 2001, instead of May 1, 2000. I was a college intern at Garmin in May 2000, and the turning off of selective availability was a BIG deal there when it happened, so I'm pretty sure that the date in the book is a typo.

Wow, you're the first to spot this! Pretty dopey error, since it's correct on the very next page. I think I still have time to fix this in the paperback.

I too regret not having more orienteering in the book...I was a Boy Scout myself and did some orienteering research for Maphead, but I guess geocaching and the other GPS games ended up filling that niche in the final book.

[luvrhino]

I think I still have time to fix this in the paperback.

While you're at it, you have a typo in the footnote on page 238 in which you say there are 64,422 confluence points. There are 64,442 confluence points (179 degrees of latitude * 360 degrees of longitude + 2 poles). I may not be a full-blown maphead, but i am a full-blown math nerd. I realize, it's likely you're already aware of the error.

I enjoyed the book very much, especially the section on the Geography Bee and anything involving history. I now have areas to explore further (e.g., the difference between Abkhazia and South Ossetia on why only one counts as distinct from Georgia). Thanks for sharing your obsession in your amusing way.

[Patrick]

I too regret not having more orienteering in the book...I was a Boy Scout myself and did some orienteering research for Maphead, but I guess geocaching and the other GPS games ended up filling that niche in the final book.

Ah, ok. I thought maybe the lack of orienteering in the book was a lack of awareness, not a matter of editing. The orienteering community, especially in the US, does a horrible job of promoting our existence and trying to change our image from a geeky compass-bearing exercise.

Did you find anything interesting in your research, or just the usual, "orienteering started in Scandinavia 100 years ago..."?

Sadly, I think most serious orienteers thumb their noses at geocachers ("they just follow an arrow!"), but I have a few friends who enjoy both. I totally get why geocaching is massively popular. It's web-connected and social. Pretty much anyone can do it. You can geocache pretty much anywhere and whenever you want. It's free.

With orienteering, you pretty much need to attend an event at a specific time/date, pay an entry fee. The event venues are limited to the places where an expert orienteering cartographer spent a lot of time creating a map. When newbies who attend, if they aren't confident in their map-reading skills, they don't have that crutch of an electronic arrow pointing the way, even on beginner courses. Plus, kids these days like their electronic gadgets and social media, and it's hard to get these kids interested with just a paper map. Plus, the reward of getting a trinket at a geocache is more kid-friendly than finding an orange nylon cube!

There's a reason why REI has a section in their store devoted to geocaching stuff!

[Eric Tracey]

Hi Ken,

I loved the book. My favorite part was probably, "Did you know that there's an integer degree confluence at the end of your driveway?" This had me laughing for what seemed like minutes.

On the next page, 238, you wrote about your attempt to visit this confluence, "48 degrees north, 122 degrees east."
I know you meant 48N 122W, because if you didn't, I'm sure you would have mentioned your confluence hunting expedition in northeastern China.

Also, have you been to the triple island in Nunavut, yet? If not, want to go?

[Ken Jennings]

Yes, that will be fixed in the paperback. I didn't mean to suddenly switch the scene to Manchuria.

As for the triple island...all I know is that on Google Earth it looks not terribly easy to visit. I'm sure those waters are navigable in summer, right?