The old observatory of Tartu University on Tõravere hill was founded in 1802 when the university reopened after a hiatus in the 18th century. This venerable building holds historical... »

Instruments of Science, Marvelous Maps and Measures, Incredible Ruins | Edited by stanestane and Nicholas Jackson

Although Columbus was a mapmaker in his pre-expedition days, he left behind no known maps of his explorations. Luckily for us, Juan de la Cosa, who sailed with Columbus on three journeys, did -... »

Marvelous Maps and Measures, Dead Explorers | Edited by Annetta and Dylan

When Giorgio Vasari undertook the restoration of the grand old Palazzo della Signoria, now known as the Palazzo Vecchio, he envisioned a new room adorned with maps of Italy and the known world,... »

Marvelous Maps and Measures, Repositories of Knowledge, Dead Explorers | Edited by Annetta and Dylan

As officials and historians prepared the historic Tokapi Palace in Istanbul for its conversion into a museum in 1929, a previously unknown and beautiful world map was discovered. Although only a... »

Marvelous Maps and Measures | Edited by Annetta

The man we know as Gerard Mercator was born in Rupelmonde, Belgium in 1512. As a young man he proved himself to be an skilled draftsman, engraver, and instrument maker, as well as an astute... »

Unique Collections, Marvelous Maps and Measures, Dead Explorers | Edited by Annetta and Dylan

Predating a unified Italy by nearly 300 years, the gallery of maps at the Vatican shows the length and breadth of the peninsula circa 1580. Pope Gregory XIII commissioned the maps from his... »

Marvelous Maps and Measures, Repositories of Knowledge, Dead Explorers | Edited by Annetta

One of a series of geographical markers set up by local newspaper editor Frank Noyes in the 1930s, some of the markers commemorate the exact half-way point between the North Pole and Equator,... »

Marvelous Maps and Measures | Edited by MattB and Dylan

In 1949, Keynsian economist Bill Phillips (father of the Phillips curve) built the financephalograph, also known as the “Moniac.” Using water to represent money, the massive hydraulic model of the... »

Strange Science, Instruments of Science, Marvelous Maps and Measures | Edited by Dylan and Annetta

Were you to drive on Maine's Interstate 295 through Yarmouth, it would be next to impossible to miss Eartha. Eartha, housed in a three-story glass gallery at DeLorme Headquarters, is the... »

Small Worlds and Model Towns, Astounding Timepieces, Instruments of Science, Marvelous Maps and Measures | Edited by Dylan and michelle

Percival Lowell, of the well-known Lowell family in Boston, was an early 20th century astronomer who popularized the belief that Mars was home to an advanced, technological civilization. Like... »

Strange Science, Instruments of Science, Marvelous Maps and Measures | Edited by Trevor