Jan./Feb. 1984 RAIN Page 15 I worked, I found myself stepping back from the globe to ponder this area of the world where western civilization has its roots. Ironically, no evidence of that history can be seen on the completed globe. After completing Europe, I looked across to the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. As on the maps of the early explorers, who boldly set out into that unknown ocean without any idea of what they might find, the space that lay across that ocean remained blank. I travelled directly west from Ireland and arrived in Newfoundland, much further north than many might expect. Still keeping the early explorers in mind, I continued north, exploring and indicating the land forms, in search of a northwest passage to Asia. In order to depict the harsh reality of the ice and tundra of the Arctic, I had to ignore the maps and globes that I was working with that showed this land in orange and green. The passage, as the explorers had discovered, was not possible, and I resumed my southerly course along the eastern seaboard of what is now the United States. An arm's length distance from this globe represents thousands of miles into space. At that distance, I would see only vague traces of the metropolitan areas. The human-made environment that seems to dominate the northeastern U.S. is practically undetectable here. In fact, this region probably does not appear much different than it would have appeared 400 years ago. My own experience on this planet has been limited to a tiny portion of North America. From my location on the surface of the earth, I have found an immense variety of people, places, and experiences. Yet in relation to the rest of the planet my home is quite insignificant. The entire globe is larger than I am, but I can cover most of New England with a few fingers. Mount Desert Island, where the globe now hangs, is but a tiny speck. I ran my fingers down the coast and stopped just before I reached the Gulf of Mexico. Cape Canaveral—it is from this point that the first astronauts were lifted from the surface of the earth. The photographs that they returned with have provided us with a new vision and understanding of ourselves and our planet. Russell Schweickart, Lunar Module Pilot for the Apollo 9, described the earth from his capsule as "so small and so fragile and such a precious little spot in that universe that you can block it out with your thumb, and you realize that on that small spot, that little blue and white thing, is everything that means anything to you. All of history and music and poetry and art and war and death and birth and love, tears, joy, games, all of it on that little spot out there that you can cover with your thumb. And you realize that from that perspective that you've changed, that there's something new there. That relationship is no longer what it was." □ □ ACCESS: Impressive Views of Earth —The World Game, a war-game alternative founded by Buckminster Fuller (see "Peace Communications" access in this issue) has created what it claims is the largest world map. This 67' x 32' dymax- ion projection shows relief, cities, and highways. World Game uses the map at seminars and conferences to enhance global awareness. Last fall the map was presented to the U.S. Congress at which time World Game personnel illustrated the potential devastation that would follow an exchange of the 50,000 nuclear warheads that are currently available to us. They did this by scattering 50,0001" Day-Glo bingo chips upon the map to represent the equivalent 30 miles of projected destruction that each warhead would create. —Rand McNally, Chicago, IL, has produced a large variety of globes over the years. One of the most impressive hangs at the New England Aquarium in Boston. This earth replica shows no political boundaries. It does show the patterns of vegetation and the ocean depths. The elevations on this globe are severely distorted in order to show the mountain ranges and canyons that would otherwise be insignificant in scale. —Babson College, a business school in Wellesley, MA, has recently restored a 65' relief map of the United States. This 1:250,000 replica shows North America as it would appear in the month of August on a clear day. The map shows mountains and farmlands but does not show political boundaries or highways. A balcony above the map gives the viewer a perspective equivalent to the distance at which the space shuttle orbits the earth. The college has recently carved off the top of Mt. St. Helens on the map to show the mountain in its new form. Babson College also has what is supposedly the largest revolving globe. This 28' sphere is in great disrepair and has recently been dismantled. One of the difficulties with such a large globe is that from the ground it is impossible to see much of the northern hemisphere where most of the earth's land surface is located. —At the Christian Science Center in Boston there is a 30' diameter globe that was designed to overcome this observation problem of large globes. A walkway passes through the interior of this beautiful stained glass globe, allowing for viewer access to every portion of the earth. It also gives an interesting perspective into space from inside the earth. This globe, built in 1934, gives a political representation of the nations of that era. Much has changed, but it provides a good historical lesson. —Tj
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