The Oxford-Hammond Atlas of the World claims to contain the first maps created directly from a satellite-generated digital database. The key figure in the atlas conception is mathematical physicist and chaos-theory trailblazer Mitchell Feigenbaum. He wrote software using fractal geometry capable of reconfiguring coastlines, borders, and mountain ranges to fit a multitude of map scales and projections.
Mapping a sphere on a plane inevitably distorts shapes, distances, or areas. Most maps try to preserve either true area relationships (equal area projections) or true angles and shapes (conformal projections), or to create a balance between the two. For this atlas, Feigenbaum created a new map projection, now known as Hammond's Optimal Conformal, which the publishers claim is "the most distortion-free conformal map possible and the most accurate projections that have ever been made."
The high quality of the graphics and production of this striking new atlas will catch consumers' interest. The price is US$69.95. Hammond Incorporated: (800) 526 4953, + 1 (201) 763 6000.
ELECTRIC WORD
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