Think Portable GPS Devices are new? Think again.

In the year 1927 the Plus Four Wristlet Route Indicator was invented. This new fangled device showed the wearer a map of their location and by merely twisting either the upper or lower nobs the map unwound with a viewfinder showing a section of the road that they were on. With 20 interchangeable maps this device would have been highly useful to those who traveled often and it is a bit of a surprise that these did not even make it to mass production phases.

Beyond the mapping feature it also included a way to keep score in Golf, perhaps this would have been more suited to come with maps for a golf course rather than cross country? MailOnline

Ever wonder what the percentage of Adults with college degrees was in your little county?

Instead of having to fob through pages and pages of data The Chronicle has supplied its readers with a lovely interactive map consisting of data from the U.S Census Bureau from the 1940's through 2009.

A capture of Washtenaw county shows we have the highest amount of bachelor degrees for our population out of all the counties in Michigan.

Visiting California soon? Don't forget to visit the French Alps while you are there!

In the year 1927 the newly incorporated Paramount studio had to get a bit of assistance from investors. They had to prove that they had what it took to make convincing backdrops to film with out spending valuable investors dollars on travel. Thus the map below was created as a way for investors to see exactly where in California Paramount could recreate the French Alps, the Red Sea, and the Coast of Spain just to name a few.

So the next time you are watching TCM and a paramount film comes on from the 1920's, just keep in mind that pretty view of the New England coast may very well be the coast of good old California.

Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink...

But plenty to look at in our upcoming Third Thursday! In support of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts Winter Theme Semester on Water we have pulled out our finest mapped examples of water.

Some of the items that we will be featuring are early charts of the Great Lakes, a 25 ft. long scroll map for navigating the Colorado River, a World War II pilot’s cloth emergency map showing ocean currents, 17th century nautical charts, and some remarkable maps of the Mediterranean Sea . As a special feature we will be previewing MFA student Collin McRae’s short animation “Stitch”. Please join us for this special event in the Hatcher Gallery Thursday February 17, 4:00-7:00 pm. Dont forget this is in the Gallery, not in the Map Library itself, hope to see you!

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Takes On Mapping the Universe

No big deal. It's just the universe. Creating the most detailed map ever made of the ENTIRE universe won't be a big deal at all.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory astronomers, in conjunction with 34 other science institutions, has secured funding for the BigBOSS project. Their hope is to understand how the universe developed post-Big Bang. Fabulously appropriate project name for such a monumental project.

Read all about it here.

Snow!

With all the talk of a snowy beast of a storm coming across the states, and of course Michigan, it even has the natives in a tizzy!

While the nation is all abuzz over the blizzard warnings popping up everywhere NASA has taken the opportunity to show off, and have published this amazing shot of the storm moving across the US.

Will this mass of white bring us the foot plus of snow? We will find out tomorrow!