Frank Jacobs

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Frank Jacobs

Journalist, writer, and blogger

strange maps

Frank Jacobs is Big Think's "Strange Maps" columnist.

From a young age, Frank was fascinated by maps and atlases, and the stories they contained. Finding his birthplace on the map in the endpapers of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings only increased his interest in the mystery and message of maps.

While pursuing a career in journalism, Frank started a blog called Strange Maps, as a repository for the weird and wonderful cartography he found hidden in books, posing as everyday objects and (of course) floating around the Internet.

"Each map tells a story, but the stories told by your standard atlas for school or reference are limited and literal: they show only the most practical side of the world, its geography and its political divisions. Strange Maps aims to collect and comment on maps that do everything but that - maps that show the world from a different angle".

A remit that wide allows for a steady, varied diet of maps: Frank has been writing about strange maps since 2006, published a book on the subject in 2009 and joined Big Think in 2010. Readers send in new material daily, and he keeps bumping in to cartography that is delightfully obscure, amazingly beautiful, shockingly partisan, and more.

Everything Videos Articles
Strange Maps
Why Erdogan wants to turn Istanbul into an island
'Kanal Istanbul' would create a second Bosporus – and immortalize its creator.
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
The weird, enchanting beauty of geology maps
Two Williams pioneered geological mapping in Britain and the United States - but the world only remembers one.
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
How maps confirm anti-migrant bias
'Battlefield maps' show continent under attack from hostile invaders.
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
Welcome to Lithuania, land of smoked mackerel ice cream
The Baltic nation rolls out an unlikely tourist attraction: 47 weird ice cream flavors.
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
Here’s a map of Mars with as much water as Earth
A 71% wet Mars would have two major land masses and one giant 'Medimartian Sea.'
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
Want a company that lasts? Start a bank or a brewery
Maps show the oldest company in (nearly) every country – and a few interesting corporate trends.
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
Pandemic resurrects old Australian border dispute
Victorians want to rectify 19th-century surveying error – and become South Australians.
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
Waving to the Great Mapmaker in the Sky
Some intriguing examples of people grooming the land for the unseen observer above.
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
How brothers become strangers, and vice versa
Two remarkable etymological maps show twin forces at work throughout human history.
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
How to do archaeology with place names
Mapping the frequency of common toponyms opens window on Britain's 'deep history'.
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
What if Middle-earth was in Pakistan?
Iranian Tolkien scholar finds intriguing parallels between subcontinental geography and famous map of Middle-earth.
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
Do you prefer subs or dubs? Here’s a map for that.
Europe is divided on whether films should have subtitles or different audio tracks.
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
The periodic table also is a map – well, kind of
Can't memorize all those elements? If you're more into geography, perhaps this will help.
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
Why are these borders so weird?
New book focuses on some of the world's most peculiar borderlines.
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
Why the U.S. has had more vice presidents than presidents
Trump is #45 but Pence is #48 – and other strange consequences of the curious office of vice president.
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
Perhaps all atlases should be this subjective
To get a sense of faraway places, these 'atlases' let the locals give you their perspective.
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
Meanwhile, Antarctica’s snow is turning green
Penguin poop and climate change are fuelling the spread of 'snow algae' down the Antarctic Peninsula
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
Austria like you’ve never seen it before
And after these 10 surprising maps, the Alpine republic will never look the same again.
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
London is a forest, and this map explores its trees
TreeTalk finds rare arboreal treasures among London's common foliage.
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
Hey, methane leakers: Now we know where you live
A European start-up uses satellite data to pinpoint individual sources of abnormal methane concentration.
Frank Jacobs
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