Frank Jacobs

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
A map showing Greenland in green and the United States in red with a statue connected by arrows, indicating movement or relation between the two locations.
Strange Maps
Counteroffer: What if Greenland bought the U.S.?
"It’s only natural for us to get America back," quipped Kim Kielsen, former prime minister of Greenland, in 2019.
Frank Jacobs
Map showing regions in Europe and North Africa. Two parts labeled 'a' and 'b' highlight areas with IQ deficit contours. Several crosses are marked on the map.
Strange Maps
Airborne lead pollution may have cost ancient Romans 3 IQ points
The Roman Empire at one point emitted roughly 3,600 tons of lead dust per year, causing “widespread cognitive decline.”
Frank Jacobs
An aerial view of a topographic map showing labeled features: Dam, Ballcourt, E-Group, and Houses, with varying elevation and terrain details.
Strange Maps
Major Mayan city discovered by scrolling past page 1 in Google search
Dubbed "Valeriana" by researchers, the city of 50,000 peaked around 800 AD before being swallowed by the jungle.
Frank Jacobs
Two maps show relative GDP per capita in Europe comparing 1900 and 2010. Darker shades indicate higher GDP relative to the EU average.
Strange Maps
Mapped: How Europe’s wealth has shifted since 1900
In 1900, the UK clearly was the richest country in Europe. That's no longer the case.
Frank Jacobs
Map showing migration routes across the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans to the Indian Ocean, with sightings marked by colors and dates.
Strange Maps
Hungry or horny? Whale makes record swim halfway across planet
In 8,000-mile journey, a male humpback ditches Colombia for Tanzania — however, scientists don’t know why he made the trip.
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
Mapped: The strange link between obesity and corruption
In post-Soviet nations where ministers have a relatively high BMI, corruption tends to be high, too.
Frank Jacobs
Map displaying a rail route from Helsinki to Bruxelles, passing through cities like Tallinn, Riga, Warsaw, Berlin, and Hamburg. Northern and Central Europe countries are labeled.
Strange Maps
In the Baltics, 85 millimeters separate East from West
A new railway will switch the Baltic region's train gauge from Soviet to standard European — a megaproject with political, economic, and military dimensions.
Frank Jacobs
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