This post covers two separate but linked topics. The first (obvious one) is within the two links and related quotes. David Macaulay has a series of books out which showcase lots of traditional technologies in print, pictures and diagrams which are really worth looking into. The following link covers a review of his latest output (covering Mankind’s greatest structures), and both the book and the review are worth checking out.
The second of the review (still on the first topic…) is of maps of the cosmos, and more particularly a Library of Congress online exhibition covering some examples of maps of the heavens form central America, east Asia, Europe…form a wide variety of cultures over the last several thousand years. Once again, the linked review is as worthwhile as the online exhibition.
This brings me to my second topic. We all have some favorite sites which we check on a daily basis. Some of these sites reward this daily ‘door rattling’ with lots of content, and others make you wait and wait for their great posts. Brainpickings.org is of the latter, but for me it is one of the best sites I check upon (on a daily basis).
If you have ever taken to time to visit my site (more than this one time…since you are already reading this!), I would suggest that you go to Brainpickings. This site (which is the work of one person!!!) has a steady train of thoughtful and interesting topics for thought.
Built to Last: The Illustrated Secrets of Mankind’s Greatest Structures
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/07/07/david-macaulay-built-to-last
Castles Cathedrals Mosques Those are some of humanity’s greatest feats of architecture, design, and civic engineering, but how exactly where they built and what makes them stand the test of time? That’s exactly what Caldecott Medal-winning artist and prolific how-things-work author David Macaulay explores in Built to Last — a fascinating illustrated volume of insight into the how and why of mankind’s greatest structures. It combines three of Macauley’s most beloved construction books — Cathedral (1981), Castle (1982), and Mosque (2003) — into a single tome full of never-before-seen full-color drawings and new material.
Combining rigorous research, poetic illustration and the captivating human stories behind these architectural marvels, Built to Last is equal parts illuminating and inspirational, brimming with a kind of visceral curiosity that makes Macaulay’s timeless drawings spring to life.
Ordering the Heavens: A Visual History of Mapping the Universe
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/07/07/ordering-the-heavens-library-of-congress
From Copernicus to Ancient Korea, or what the Chinese concept of change has to do with Aztec astrology.
The love of maps is a running theme here at Brain Pickings, from these 7 must-read books on creative cartography to, most recently, BBC’s fantastic documentary on important medieval maps. Humanity’s long history of visual sense making is as much a source of timeless inspiration as a living record of how our collective understanding of the universe and our place in it evolved. It seems like the farther from the known mapmakers’ imaginations traveled, the more fascinating their maps became. And hardly does the unknown glimmer with more alluring sparkle than the cosmos. Explaining and Ordering the Heavens is a fantastic online exhibition from The Library of Congress, examining over 8 centuries of humanity’s evolving views of the universe, from ancient Buddhist cosmological maps to Galileo’s seminal work in astronomy to Persian celestial globes and more. Gathered here is a curated selection of images from the exhibition, alongside the original caption text accompanying them.
See more gems in the Library of Congress online exhibition. You can read more about how the exhibition was envisioned, curated, and brought to life here.
