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100 Diagrams That Changed theWorldby Maria Popova

A visual history of human sensemaking, from cavepaintings to the world wide web.

Since the dawn of recorded history, weve beenusing visual depictions to map the Earth, orderthe heavens, make sense of time, dissect thehuman body, organize the natural world,perform music, and even concretize abstractconcepts like consciousness and love. 100Diagrams That Changed the World (UK; publiclibrary) by investigative journalist anddocumentarian Scott Christianson chroniclesthe history of our evolving understanding ofthe world through humanitys mostgroundbreaking sketches, illustrations, anddrawings, ranging from cave paintings to The Rosetta Stone to Moses Harrisscolor wheel to Tim Berners-Lees flowchart for a mesh informationmanagement system, the original blueprint for the world wide web.

But most noteworthy of all is the way in which these diagrams bespeak anessential part of culture the awareness that everything builds on what camebefore, that creativity is combinatorial, and that the most radical innovationsharness the cross-pollination of disciplines. Christianson writes in theintroduction:

It appears that no great diagram is solely authored by itscreator. Most of those described here were the culmination ofcenturies of accumulated knowledge. Most arose fromcollaboration (and oftentimes in competition) with others.Each was a product and a reflection of its unique cultural,historical and political environment. Each represented specificpreoccupations, interests, and stake holders.

[]

The great diagrams depicted in the book form the basis formany fields art, astronomy, cartography, chemistry,mathematics, engineering, history, communications, particlephysics, and space travel among others. More often than not,however, their creators mostly known, but many lost totime were polymaths who are creating new technologiesor breakthroughs by drawing from a potent combination ofdisciplines. By applying trigonometric methods to the heavens,or by harnessing the movement of the sun and the planets tokeep time, they were forging powerful new tools; theirdiagrams were imbued with synergy.

Chauvet Cave Drawings (c. 30,000 BC)

Horses, rhinos, and lions are just a few of the wild animals depicted at Chauvet.Experts believe that the cave drawings may have served to initiate young males

into hunting by showing them what game they might encounter.

Rosetta Stone (196 BC)

Discovered in 1799, this granite block containing a decree written in threelanguages allowed Egyptologists to interpret hieroglyphics for the first time -- a

language that had been out of use since the fourth century AD.

The Ptolemaic System (Claudius Ptolemy, c. AD 140-150)

This 1568 illuminated illustration of the Ptolemaic geocentric system, 'Figura dosCorpos Celestes' (Four Heavenly Bodies), is by the Portuguese cosmographer and

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Ptolemy's World Map (Claudius Ptolemy, c. AD 150)

In this 15th-century example of the Ptolemaic world map, the Indian Ocean isenclosed and there is no sea route around the Cape. The 'inhabited' (Old) World is

massively inflated.

Lunar Eclipse (Abu Rayhan al-Biruni, 1019)

An illustration showing the different phases of the moon from al-Biruni'smanuscript copy of his Kitab al-Tafhim (Book of Instruction on the Principles of the

Art of Astrology)

Christianson offers a definition:

diagram

From the latin diagramma (figure) from Greek, a figure workedout b lines, plan, from diagraphein, from graphein to write.

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FAIL SAFE: DEBBIE MILLMAN ON COURAGEAND THE CREATIVE LIFE

First known use of the word: 1619.

1. A plan, a sketch, drawing, outline, not necessarilyrepresentational, designed to demonstrate or explainsomething or clarify the relationship existing betweenthe parts of the whole.

2. In mathematics, a graphic representation of an algebraicor geometric relationship. A chart or graph.

3. A drawing or plan that outlines and explains the parts,operation, etc. of something: a diagram of an engine.

Dante's Divine Comedy (Dante Alighieri, 1308-21)

A 19th-century interpretation of Dante's map of Hell. The level of suffering andwickedness increases on the downward journey through the inferno's nine layers.

No original copies of Dante's manuscript survive.

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Vitruvian Man (Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1487

This sketch, and the notes that go with it, show how da Vinci understood theproportions of the human body. The head measured from the forehead to the chinwas exactly one tenth of the total height, and the outstretched arms were always

as wide as the body was tall.

CARL SAGAN ON SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALITY

JOHN STEINBECK ON FALLING IN LOVE: A1958 LETTER

THE SHORTNESS OF LIFE: SENECA ONBUSYNESS AND THE ART OF LIVING WIDERATHER THAN LIVING LONG

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Human Body (Andreas Vesalius, 1543)

Vesalius's revolutionary anatomical treatise, De Humani Corporis Fabrica, showsthe dissected body in unusually animated poses. These detailed diagrams are

perhaps the most famous illustrations in all of medical history.

technology TEDvideo vintage vintagechildren's books worldwriting

Heliocentric Universe (Nicolaus Copernicus, 1543)

Copernicus's revolutionary view of the universe was crystallized in this simple yetdisconcerting line drawing. His heliocentric model -- which placed the Sun and not

the Earth and the center of the universe -- contradicted 14th-century beliefs.

The Four Books of Architecture

Palladio's country villas, urban palazzos, and churches combined modern featureswith classical Roman principles. His designs were hailed as 'the quintessence of

High Renaissance calm and harmony.'

Flush Toilet (John Harington, 1596)

The text accompanying Harington's diagram identified A as the 'Cesterne,' D asthe 'seate boord,' H as the 'stoole pot,' and L as the 'sluce.' If used correctly,

'your worst privie may be as sweet as your best chamber.'

Moon Drawings (Galileo Galilei, 1610)

Aided by his telescope, Galileo's drawings of the moon were a revelation. Untilthese illustrations were published, the moon was thought to be perfectly smooth

and round. Galileo's sketches revealed it to be mountainous and pitted withcraters.

Color Wheel (Moses Harris, 1766)

Moses Harris's chart was the first full-color circle. The 18 colors of his wheel werederived from what he then called the three 'primitive' colors: red, yellow and blue.

At the center of the wheel, Harris showed that black is formed by thesuperimposition of these colors.

A New Chart of History (Joseph Priestley, 1769)

The regularized distribution of dates on Priestley's chart and its horizontalcomposition help to emphasize the continuous flow of time. This innovative,

colorful timeline allowed students to survey the fates of 78 kingdoms in one chart.

Line Graph (William Playfair, 1786)

William Playfair was the first person to display demographic and economic data ingraph form. His clearly drawn, color-coded line graphs show time on the

horizontal axis and economic data or quantities on the vertical axis.

Emoticons (Puck Magazine, 1881)

Emoticons made a discreet entrance, arriving in print for the first time in thisMarch 30, 1881 issue of Puck. The small item in the middle of this page gives four

examples of 'typographical art' -- joy, melancholy, indifference, andastonishment.

Treasure Island Map (Robert Louis Stevenson, 1883)

While there is no evidence of real pirates ever leaving a 'treasure map' showingwhere they had buried their stolen goods, with 'X' marking the spot, Stevenson's

fictional device has continued to excite generations of children to this day.

Cubism and Abstract Art (Alfred Barr, 1936)

Barr's striking diagram highlighted the role that cubism had played in thedevelopment of modernism. Like the exhibition and book that accompanied it,

Barr's diagram was a watershed in the history of 20th-century modernism.

Intel 4004 CPU (Ted Hoff, Stanley Mazor, Masatoshi Shima, Federico Faggin,Philip Tai, and Wayne Pickette, 1971)

Wayne Pickette suggested that Intel could use a 'computer on a board' for one oftheir projects with the Japanese company Busicom. Pickette drew this diagram

with Philip Tai for the 4004 demonstration board.

Complement 100 Diagrams That Changed the World with 17 equations thatchanged the world and the fantastic Cartographies of Time.

Thanks, Kirstin

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