Thanks, Melanie. Hooray for New Zealand! Better known these days as "The Country That Stayed Sane When The Rest of Us Went A Bit Mad". I'm not usually one for neo-imperialistic things, but - please invade us. Please invade the UK and topple our existing government and rule us in a shockingly sensible way. Thanks.
(ps. Love "turnstone" as a way to signify investigative curiosity. A+ name for a newsletter you have there.)
Yes, while our country has its faults, the last couple of years have made me extremely grateful to be a New Zealander. I'll pass on the memo re invasion although I think there's a queue... Glad you like the newsletter name as well.
Thank you, Don! I fell rather too deeply into the research rabbit-hole for this one, hence it's a few days behind schedule - there's just so much that's worth writing about on this topic. Endlessly surprising...
Inability of telling left and right is quite common and I gave it to two of my children. Having to think about which way the open part of the E vs 3 goes makes one quite aware of the arbitrariness of left and right.
A great article! So fascinating how such a simple choice was so influenced by history, topography, power, religion, and apparently winds!
I've always wondered why so many countries had a rich north / poor south pattern. And I hadn't considered how maps could be part of that cycle, and the cycle of colonialism.
I originally thought you were saying that the magnetic pole cancels itself out, but then clicked on the Fleming Rule link and realized it was a mnemonic about electromagnetic fields, and so a metaphor for how map orientation was also inaccurate. I think.
Wonderful idea. Glad I thought of it years ago, back in 1975 when my daughter was about 3 years old. I didn't want her to be locked into the rigid thinking that I felt the "normal" map orientation could easily engender.
A really nice explanation, thank you (from the bottom of the usual map and a country quite often left off completely)
Thanks, Melanie. Hooray for New Zealand! Better known these days as "The Country That Stayed Sane When The Rest of Us Went A Bit Mad". I'm not usually one for neo-imperialistic things, but - please invade us. Please invade the UK and topple our existing government and rule us in a shockingly sensible way. Thanks.
(ps. Love "turnstone" as a way to signify investigative curiosity. A+ name for a newsletter you have there.)
Yes, while our country has its faults, the last couple of years have made me extremely grateful to be a New Zealander. I'll pass on the memo re invasion although I think there's a queue... Glad you like the newsletter name as well.
That was a fascinating romp through geopolitical history. Thanks!
Thank you, Don! I fell rather too deeply into the research rabbit-hole for this one, hence it's a few days behind schedule - there's just so much that's worth writing about on this topic. Endlessly surprising...
Inability of telling left and right is quite common and I gave it to two of my children. Having to think about which way the open part of the E vs 3 goes makes one quite aware of the arbitrariness of left and right.
A great article! So fascinating how such a simple choice was so influenced by history, topography, power, religion, and apparently winds!
I've always wondered why so many countries had a rich north / poor south pattern. And I hadn't considered how maps could be part of that cycle, and the cycle of colonialism.
I originally thought you were saying that the magnetic pole cancels itself out, but then clicked on the Fleming Rule link and realized it was a mnemonic about electromagnetic fields, and so a metaphor for how map orientation was also inaccurate. I think.
Wonderful idea. Glad I thought of it years ago, back in 1975 when my daughter was about 3 years old. I didn't want her to be locked into the rigid thinking that I felt the "normal" map orientation could easily engender.