What's new
Essays arrive in groups rather than one at a time, and a group usually opens up a subject not covered before. Between one group and the next nothing changes, so a reader who has seen the most recent group has seen everything.
31 October 2026
1 essay on grids, and what a survey does
Before that
Everything published earlier, newest first. Titles only — the cards are on the full listing.
26 October 2026
3 essays on the families, the impossibility and what is taught wrongly
- A smooth curve beats the water's best join from its first term — the families
- Gravity is worth four loops a station, and the background still hides a deep root — the impossibility
- A known coast charges an office's habit, and a bending one takes it out — what is taught wrongly
21 October 2026
3 essays on what each projection optimises, paths and directions and what is taught wrongly
- A cap on the worst departure keeps the thin regions' gain and gives back the square's — what each projection optimises
- A revised forecast is relearned in as many crossings as the learner remembers — paths and directions
- The spread between hands charges the mean, and an office's habit hides in the sheet — what is taught wrongly
15 October 2026
4 essays on the families, the impossibility, paths and directions and what is taught wrongly
- The water would join Goode's map at seventy-five degrees — the families
- A sea with five islands is seldom worth five cuts — the impossibility
- A season learns the stretch from where the streak was, not from the floors — paths and directions
- Averaging tracings reads the easing, until the hand repeats itself — what is taught wrongly
6 October 2026
5 essays on the impossibility, paths and directions, grids, and what a survey does, what each projection optimises and what is taught wrongly
- A loop reads a root's depth from its own pattern, and a triangle reads none of it — the impossibility
- A layer is a meeting with the bank, not a corner turned — paths and directions
- An agency can map where its published covariance is optimistic — grids, and what a survey does
- Three maps make a plane, and the band's best map lies outside their triangle — what each projection optimises
- An easing is a seam with a width, and a drifting hand hides the width — what is taught wrongly
3 October 2026
1 essay on the impossibility
- A levelling loop weighs the root, and a triangle weighs the mountain — the impossibility
30 September 2026
3 essays on the families, paths and directions and what each projection optimises
- The ocean centres its lobes on the land's cuts, and cannot keep its own cuts short — the families
- An ensemble carries its own margin, if its spread is honest — paths and directions
- Two maps and the line between them do the work of every exponent — what each projection optimises
29 September 2026
6 essays on the impossibility, grids, and what a survey does, the families and what is taught wrongly
- A levelling loop reads the circulation, and the geoid has none — the impossibility
- One survey cannot tell an optimistic report from a moved mark — grids, and what a survey does
- The land would move Goode's lobes before his join — the families
- The second cut goes across the sea — the impossibility
- An adjustment hides the sphere only in a strip of equal triangles — what is taught wrongly
- A second tracing tells a drifting hand from a copied stretch — what is taught wrongly
27 September 2026
2 essays on the impossibility and what each projection optimises
- One cut belongs to the island that would cost most alone — the impossibility
- The pass was a map meeting itself — what each projection optimises
25 September 2026
9 essays on the impossibility, the families, grids, and what a survey does, what each projection optimises, paths and directions and what is taught wrongly
- A triangle reads the geoid's curvature, and that one converges — the impossibility
- On the land it was drawn for, the homolosine wins by its meridians — the families
- Honest about its control, the test needs eight centimetres where it needed five — grids, and what a survey does
- The land puts the homolosine's join eleven degrees higher — the families
- The archipelago rule moves water between regimes, not between states — grids, and what a survey does
- The band names the exponent for a compact region, and not for a thin one — what each projection optimises
- Tonight's residuals measure tonight's air badly and weight tonight's fix well — paths and directions
- A reach set drawn from the river's outline is a bound again — paths and directions
- A strip of triangles carries the sphere's error to the next base — what is taught wrongly
24 September 2026
7 essays on grids, and what a survey does, paths and directions and what each projection optimises
- Three numbers are all a local survey can check of its control — grids, and what a survey does
- Naming the control station that moved takes a fifth — grids, and what a survey does
- A week of twilights learns what a sight is worth — paths and directions
- One exponent names one map, and at tight bands a better one than the band usually finds — what each projection optimises
- Written in numbers, the archipelago rule still leaves eighteen — grids, and what a survey does
- A forecast's error in where the streak is becomes a margin — paths and directions
- The sinusoidal is the edge of its family, not outside it — what each projection optimises
23 September 2026
4 essays on the families, paths and directions and what is taught wrongly
- The seam falls faster than the paper — the families
- Scored lobe by lobe, the homolosine loses to its own lower half — the families
- Weighted by what it disagrees with, the fix trusts the sight it leans on — paths and directions
- A residual cannot count the pieces of a map — what is taught wrongly
20 September 2026
5 essays on the families, what each projection optimises, the impossibility and what is taught wrongly
- One curve beats the three maps it would replace — the families
- Six projections have two curves, and the refusal has company — what each projection optimises
- Two islands are three numbers, and the proof does not survive them — the impossibility
- A second clause decides the half that was already decided — what each projection optimises
- The region was a rectangle in a projection — what is taught wrongly
17 September 2026
5 essays on grids, and what a survey does, the families, the impossibility and paths and directions
- A straight baseline moves more water inward than sea outward — grids, and what a survey does
- Only Eckert II's family can be the strip, and its meridians are straight — the families
- A second pin is a measurement of the places — the impossibility
- The control carries the error of every network above it — grids, and what a survey does
- A low sight is worth keeping only if it is weighted — paths and directions
16 September 2026
7 essays on the impossibility, paths and directions and what is taught wrongly
- The geoid has a curvature only if you say where you stopped — the impossibility
- A bend in the barrier puts the drawn polygon over water — paths and directions
- Two numbers about the paper buy nothing about the places — the impossibility
- A streak along the jet moves the floor while the crossing is flown — paths and directions
- The correction is the smaller of the two corrections — what is taught wrongly
- The area weighting was a readership all along — what is taught wrongly
- A copy eased into place loses its seams before its source — what is taught wrongly
15 September 2026
12 essays on the impossibility, paths and directions, what is taught wrongly, the families and what each projection optimises
- The pair that cannot be held is not the one the geometry names — the impossibility
- The residual reports the error the fix was immune to — paths and directions
- A mixed picture holds one more, and what it is holding is north — the impossibility
- What the extra unknown costs where nothing can see it — paths and directions
- A confidence ellipse is honest only where the sheet keeps angles — paths and directions
- An angle is a difference, and the difference doubles the error — what is taught wrongly
- An equal-area strip removes the corner and charges nothing for it — the families
- The map that keeps the most ground inside a tolerance — what each projection optimises
- A criterion worth using is one whose answer is not unique — what each projection optimises
- The map is finer than the paper it is folded from — the families
- The pass that fails first is not the one that was measured — what each projection optimises
- The pass's depth belongs to the projection, and it is not a constant — what each projection optimises
14 September 2026
7 essays on paths and directions, the impossibility, what each projection optimises, the families and what is taught wrongly
- A jet moves the floor that a uniform wind cannot — paths and directions
- A line of position is Newton's method, but only on a conformal chart — paths and directions
- A cocked hat holds the ship one time in four — paths and directions
- Five bearings of twelve, and only eight ways to draw them — the impossibility
- Chebyshev's map is the best at its worst, and not on average — what each projection optimises
- Joined where the parallels agree, and the meridians turn a corner — the families
- A bearing on a sphere is decided by its latitude, not its radius — what is taught wrongly
13 September 2026
14 essays on paths and directions, the impossibility, grids, and what a survey does and what is taught wrongly
- The reach set takes the shape of the roads — paths and directions
- A drawn reach set stops at the river — paths and directions
- The rule that keeps a route near land is pinned at both ends — paths and directions
- A crossing bends by a law only a conformal chart can show — paths and directions
- The error belongs to a few of the places — the impossibility
- A diversion allowance in a wind is the same circle, moved upwind — paths and directions
- A place with a size can be drawn to scale — the impossibility
- A flat picture has one direction between two places, and the Earth has two — the impossibility
- A ring can be drawn whole, and only one way — the impossibility
- A river boundary goes where the river goes, or stays where it was — grids, and what a survey does
- A compiled map agrees with its graticule except where it was copied — what is taught wrongly
- The highest summits stay where they are, and the watershed does not — grids, and what a survey does
- An ellipsoid computed to a nanometre is known to a decimetre — what is taught wrongly
- The sea is measured from a tide, and the headlands decide how much — grids, and what a survey does
11 September 2026
20 essays on paths and directions, the impossibility, grids, and what a survey does, the families and what is taught wrongly
- Every reach set ever drawn is too small — paths and directions
- A partition under a directed cost has two versions — paths and directions
- Four cities that cannot be drawn to scale — the impossibility
- The shortest route between two coasts — paths and directions
- A crossing is a chain of decisions — paths and directions
- How wrong a flat picture has to be — the impossibility
- The best flat picture is not a map — the impossibility
- Five distances of six, and never more — the impossibility
- The escape is not a dimension — the impossibility
- One sentence, and the ground between its readings — grids, and what a survey does
- The line a commission can actually run — grids, and what a survey does
- The span ladder, run on all five — the families
- A meridian boundary moves when its datum does — grids, and what a survey does
- The corner that is the curvature — the families
- A family is a function, not a list — the families
- An equidistance line belongs to a surface — grids, and what a survey does
- A tripoint defined three times — grids, and what a survey does
- The maps with no family are simply better — the families
- The sheet moved before it was measured — what is taught wrongly
- A map with no graticule — what is taught wrongly
5 September 2026
13 essays on the impossibility, the families, what is taught wrongly, what each projection optimises, what the numbers refer to, what a machine does with it and measuring distortion
- What a cut buys — the impossibility
- How many triangles it takes — the impossibility
- Four radii of the Earth — the families
- The average was a choice of norm — what is taught wrongly
- The pooled score abandons a region — what each projection optimises
- On a body with a hole, north can be up everywhere — what the numbers refer to
- The height a coordinate does not carry — what the numbers refer to
- The orientation is a policy — what a machine does with it
- The sample was drawn on the page — measuring distortion
- Two indicatrices do not make a third — measuring distortion
- A cartogram keeps the shapes it inflates — measuring distortion
- A current drawn on a page has sources — measuring distortion
- Rounding is not noise — measuring distortion
1 September 2026
20 essays on the impossibility, paths and directions, grids, and what a survey does, the families, what is taught wrongly, what each projection optimises, what a machine does with it and measuring distortion
- How big a triangle it takes — the impossibility
- The most compact shape depends on the paper — paths and directions
- The score is not stable at any scale — paths and directions
- Two charts are enough, and one is not — the impossibility
- One pair of numbers, a hundred and twenty places — grids, and what a survey does
- The exact map says the seam is smooth — the families
- The ranking is not an order — what is taught wrongly
- The answer is a set — what is taught wrongly
- The first break is mostly its denominator — what each projection optimises
- The nodes were evenly spaced — what each projection optimises
- A tolerance in map units is not a tolerance — what a machine does with it
- The worst point is not on the grid — measuring distortion
- A mean that does not exist can still be printed — measuring distortion
- There is no equal-area lattice on a sphere — measuring distortion
- A refinement that stops moving — measuring distortion
- Which of these numbers are the sampler's — measuring distortion
- One number changed and the whole map moved — measuring distortion
- The lines where the bending vanishes — measuring distortion
- The area is unbiased and the perimeter is not — measuring distortion
- The fourth number the ellipse does not carry — measuring distortion
31 August 2026
20 essays on paths and directions, the families, grids, and what a survey does, what each projection optimises, what is taught wrongly, what the numbers refer to, what a machine does with it and measuring distortion
- The shortest route a vehicle can fly — paths and directions
- The corner is not at the midpoint — the families
- A family is not closed under averaging — the families
- The network's answer is decided before it is measured — grids, and what a survey does
- The threshold is not a percolation — what each projection optimises
- Which small quantity the series is in — what is taught wrongly
- A condition imposed at points is not a condition — what each projection optimises
- A vertical rate needs a height system — what the numbers refer to
- A cell's children do not fit inside it — what a machine does with it
- Every country's zero is a different surface — what the numbers refer to
- A label belongs to no tile — what a machine does with it
- The parameters are not independent — what the numbers refer to
- A ray from the centre hits the surface twice — what the numbers refer to
- Which features survive is not a sample — what a machine does with it
- Two routes to one scale — what a machine does with it
- A choropleth is read by area — measuring distortion
- A symbol has a size on the page and an area on the ground — measuring distortion
- A dot map's density is partly the projection's — measuring distortion
- The class breaks were computed on the page — measuring distortion
- What the page cannot move — measuring distortion
30 August 2026
20 essays on paths and directions, the impossibility, the families, grids, and what a survey does, what is taught wrongly, what each projection optimises, what the numbers refer to, what a machine does with it and measuring distortion
- A reach set with a cost that depends on direction — paths and directions
- Four colours, and what a cut cannot do to them — the impossibility
- The set that can be reached is not the set that can reach — paths and directions
- Where the surface curves the other way — the impossibility
- The gnomonic crosses a seam without a corner — the families
- Further north on the grid is not further north — grids, and what a survey does
- A rotation is not absorbed the way a shift is — what is taught wrongly
- The basins have widths as well as depths — what each projection optimises
- Which projection a weighting can make best — what is taught wrongly
- The ground has an indicatrix too — what the numbers refer to
- A velocity needs a frame and a strain rate does not — what the numbers refer to
- A grid stops fitting the ground it was laid on — what the numbers refer to
- The strain a map adds to the ground's — what the numbers refer to
- The query a fast path actually answers — what a machine does with it
- The cheapest map that meets its areas — measuring distortion
- A density that asks for no room at all — measuring distortion
- The ellipses are a sample, drawn at a size somebody chose — measuring distortion
- The error that does not average down — measuring distortion
- A length measured from noisy points is too long — measuring distortion
- The best compromise for angle is not the best for bending — measuring distortion
28 August 2026
35 essays on paths and directions, the impossibility, grids, and what a survey does, the families, what each projection optimises, what is taught wrongly, what the numbers refer to, what a machine does with it and measuring distortion
- A circle of a distance is not a circle — paths and directions
- Nearest of many is a partition — paths and directions
- A corridor has a width the page cannot keep — paths and directions
- How many times, not whether — the impossibility
- The places where a map is exactly right — the impossibility
- Sixty zones was a decision about one latitude — grids, and what a survey does
- What the net heuristic cannot find — the families
- Where the valley breaks in two — what each projection optimises
- The nearest map to an impossible request — what each projection optimises
- The tolerance that decides the verdict — what is taught wrongly
- The geoid model stops at a degree — what the numbers refer to
- The attribute is a claim about the geometry — what a machine does with it
- The second derivative cannot classify — measuring distortion
- The error ellipse is not an ellipse — measuring distortion
- Whether the ellipses point the same way — measuring distortion
- The line drawn straight on the page is a route — paths and directions
- A projection defined by a table has an interpolation in it — the families
- The blunder the network cannot see — grids, and what a survey does
- The datum hides inside the projection's parameters — what is taught wrongly
- The height of the pass between two basins — what each projection optimises
- The nearest equal-area map to an impossible request — what each projection optimises
- A longitude that drifts with the rotation rate — what the numbers refer to
- The rotation has two sign conventions — what the numbers refer to
- The radius of curvature is two numbers — what the numbers refer to
- The correlation is not the same in every direction — what the numbers refer to
- A thousand features are wrong in the same direction — what a machine does with it
- How many features a scale can carry — what a machine does with it
- The answer depends on the cells it was counted in — what a machine does with it
- A map drawn to a density it was handed — measuring distortion
- The renderer runs out of numbers before the zoom does — what a machine does with it
- Every density can be met and none is free — measuring distortion
- A map that meets its target can fold — measuring distortion
- Everything else on the page pays for the areas — measuring distortion
- The light comes from a page direction — measuring distortion
- The curvature of a field is not the curvature of its picture — measuring distortion
26 August 2026
15 essays on paths and directions, the impossibility, what is taught wrongly, the families, grids, and what a survey does, measuring distortion, what the numbers refer to and what a machine does with it
- The shortest route is not at sea level — paths and directions
- No map of the whole sphere is one to one — the impossibility
- North cannot be up everywhere — the impossibility
- Two opposite places on the same spot — the impossibility
- The equator is not a circle either — what is taught wrongly
- Where the control points are — what is taught wrongly
- The family is a symmetry, not a shape — the families
- The weights are a guess the solve believes — grids, and what a survey does
- An average of ellipses is not an ellipse — measuring distortion
- The slope of a field that was measured — measuring distortion
- A long window and a square one — what the numbers refer to
- What another common point buys — what the numbers refer to
- When the edges do not line up — what a machine does with it
- The road is drawn two pixels wide — what a machine does with it
- A boundary that two features share — what a machine does with it
24 August 2026
15 essays on the impossibility, what is taught wrongly, measuring distortion, what each projection optimises, the families, grids, and what a survey does, what the numbers refer to and what a machine does with it
- Impossible in two derivatives, possible in one — the impossibility
- The projections that are beaten on both counts — what is taught wrongly
- A slope is not a shape — measuring distortion
- Not every distortion can be asked for — what each projection optimises
- A net can land on top of itself — the families
- The contour is right and the reading is wrong — measuring distortion
- A grid reference names a square — grids, and what a survey does
- The shape of the valley — what each projection optimises
- Water runs downhill on the ground, not on the page — measuring distortion
- The size at which the second derivative arrives — measuring distortion
- The difference of two coordinates — measuring distortion
- Cuts of the same size in different places — what the numbers refer to
- A mountain is not a buried sphere — what the numbers refer to
- A polygon on a sphere has no outside — what a machine does with it
- The same number of cells, in two shapes — what a machine does with it
23 August 2026
15 essays on paths and directions, what is taught wrongly, the families, measuring distortion, what each projection optimises, grids, and what a survey does, what the numbers refer to and what a machine does with it
- Where the shortest route stops being the only one — paths and directions
- A residual has more than one explanation — what is taught wrongly
- The inverse of the series is not the series of the inverse — the families
- The indicatrix at a point that has none — measuring distortion
- The developable surface was never necessary — the families
- Report the map, not the parameters — what each projection optimises
- A coordinate is the output of a solve — grids, and what a survey does
- The seven parameters have their own uncertainty — what the numbers refer to
- A vector tile has an integer grid — what a machine does with it
- The map depends on where it was cut — what the numbers refer to
- Cells that are rectangles in no coordinate — what a machine does with it
- How far the plumb line bends — what the numbers refer to
- A line has a length only at a scale — what a machine does with it
- Simplification does not commute with the projection — what a machine does with it
- A tolerance is a promise about the picture — what a machine does with it
22 August 2026
15 essays on the impossibility, what is taught wrongly, measuring distortion, what each projection optimises, the families, grids, and what a survey does, what the numbers refer to and what a machine does with it
- Two surfaces with the same curvature — the impossibility
- The rule scored out of sample — what is taught wrongly
- The second derivative is not an invariant — measuring distortion
- When the answer is not in the library — what is taught wrongly
- A coordinate is a number with a width — measuring distortion
- An error ellipse is an indicatrix — measuring distortion
- Every equal-area map is every other one — what each projection optimises
- The net that loses the fewest neighbours — the families
- The average of noisy positions moves — measuring distortion
- The landscape the search walks on — what each projection optimises
- The bound on the body the country is on — grids, and what a survey does
- The line a height is measured along — what the numbers refer to
- A conformal map of a body that is not a quadric — what the numbers refer to
- A real edge has a width — what a machine does with it
- The same data on two grids — what a machine does with it
20 August 2026
15 essays on paths and directions, what is taught wrongly, measuring distortion, the families, what each projection optimises, grids, and what a survey does, what the numbers refer to and what a machine does with it
- The quickest route is not the shortest — paths and directions
- The rule of thumb, scored — what is taught wrongly
- A map does not say what it is — what is taught wrongly
- Two projections that cannot be told apart — what is taught wrongly
- What a careless copy hides — what is taught wrongly
- A projection between two projections — measuring distortion
- Where the series stops being the map — the families
- The condition does not always decide the map — the families
- The third parameter, run — what each projection optimises
- The best grid a country could have had — grids, and what a survey does
- The chain the satellite does not have — grids, and what a survey does
- A chain of transformations does not close — what the numbers refer to
- A conformal map of a body with three axes — what the numbers refer to
- A tilted view has no zoom level — what a machine does with it
- One edge is not an edge — what a machine does with it
19 August 2026
15 essays on the impossibility, what each projection optimises, measuring distortion, the families, what the numbers refer to and what a machine does with it
- Curvature that varies from place to place — the impossibility
- Solving for the map instead of choosing it — what each projection optimises
- The second derivative over a region — measuring distortion
- A conformal map onto a face — the families
- A local model has an order — measuring distortion
- A map with no formula — what each projection optimises
- More faces, less distortion, more cutting — the families
- The aspect has three numbers, not one — what each projection optimises
- The sphere is not the plane at small counts — what each projection optimises
- A map of a body with three axes — what the numbers refer to
- A body with no sea level — what the numbers refer to
- A query is a disc, and a disc is not a cell — what a machine does with it
- A deflection is the slope of a mass — what the numbers refer to
- The address is a curve through the sphere — what a machine does with it
- An edge has no order of convergence — what a machine does with it
18 August 2026
15 essays on what each projection optimises, measuring distortion, the families, what the numbers refer to and what a machine does with it
- A projection written as a condition — what each projection optimises
- Tissot stops at the first derivative — measuring distortion
- Bending and stretching are one failure — measuring distortion
- The globe on a solid — the families
- Three conditions are one too many — what each projection optimises
- A map that cannot be read backwards — what each projection optimises
- The cut has to go somewhere — the families
- The second derivative has its own ranking — measuring distortion
- What a face can preserve — the families
- A coordinate on another body — what the numbers refer to
- An address is an area — what a machine does with it
- The same projection on a different body — what the numbers refer to
- A body that is not an ellipsoid — what the numbers refer to
- Hexagons cannot tile the sphere — what a machine does with it
- A cell system trades area for shape — what a machine does with it
16 August 2026
15 essays on the impossibility, paths and directions, what each projection optimises, what is taught wrongly, measuring distortion, the families, grids, and what a survey does, what the numbers refer to and what a machine does with it
- A direction carried round a loop — the impossibility
- A route that must go round — paths and directions
- The average of two projections — what each projection optimises
- Equal-area on the wrong body — what is taught wrongly
- How many sheets an atlas needs — what each projection optimises
- The indicatrix is a limit — measuring distortion
- The azimuthal family is one function — the families
- The normal section is not the geodesic — what is taught wrongly
- An area on the grid is not an area on the ground — grids, and what a survey does
- Two parameter sets, one transformation — what the numbers refer to
- Zoom is a ladder — what a machine does with it
- A centroid belongs to a plane — what a machine does with it
- A height that is not a length — what the numbers refer to
- What a closed figure cannot see — grids, and what a survey does
- Inside is a claim about the edges — what a machine does with it
15 August 2026
15 essays on what a machine does with it
- A screen map is a pyramid of tiles — what a machine does with it
- The scale of a screen map is not one number — what a machine does with it
- A scale bar is right in one place — what a machine does with it
- The square costs the poles — what a machine does with it
- The pixel is a place with a size — what a machine does with it
- A tile is drawn without its neighbours — what a machine does with it
- The pyramid did not have to be Mercator — what a machine does with it
- A coordinate without its system is not a location — what a machine does with it
- A degree is not a unit of length — what a machine does with it
- Computing an area needs a surface — what a machine does with it
- A straight segment is a claim about a plane — what a machine does with it
- The antimeridian is a cut in the numbers — what a machine does with it
- Nearest is a question about the metric — what a machine does with it
- Reprojecting a raster invents values — what a machine does with it
- The operation decides the coordinate system — what a machine does with it
14 August 2026
15 essays on grids, and what a survey does
- A grid has an origin that is not there — grids, and what a survey does
- What a grid is made of — grids, and what a survey does
- The scale factor of a line — grids, and what a survey does
- The scale factor was chosen — grids, and what a survey does
- The units are part of the coordinate — grids, and what a survey does
- Designing a grid for one region — grids, and what a survey does
- Where two zones meet — grids, and what a survey does
- A grid scaled to the ground is not a map — grids, and what a survey does
- What a tape measures — grids, and what a survey does
- A traverse must close — grids, and what a survey does
- The two ways to spread a misclosure — grids, and what a survey does
- Setting out runs the chain backwards — grids, and what a survey does
- Two grids over the same ground — grids, and what a survey does
- The tolerance decides the model — grids, and what a survey does
- A published coordinate is a result — grids, and what a survey does
11 August 2026
15 essays on what the numbers refer to
- What a coordinate refers to — what the numbers refer to
- The seven parameters, and what each one does — what the numbers refer to
- A datum is fitted to a region — what the numbers refer to
- Where a fit leaves residuals — what the numbers refer to
- Molodensky's shortcut — what the numbers refer to
- When a formula is not enough — what the numbers refer to
- The epoch is part of the coordinate — what the numbers refer to
- Height above what? — what the numbers refer to
- The ellipsoid is a level surface — what the numbers refer to
- A levelled height is not a distance — what the numbers refer to
- The plumb line is not the normal — what the numbers refer to
- The ground is not the grid — what the numbers refer to
- The third coordinate moves too — what the numbers refer to
- The flattening is not a free parameter — what the numbers refer to
- The figure of the Earth was measured — what the numbers refer to
10 August 2026
12 essays on what each projection optimises, the impossibility, paths and directions, the families, measuring distortion and what is taught wrongly
- Fitting the aspect to the region — what each projection optimises
- How small is flat enough — the impossibility
- The route with no shortest path — paths and directions
- Choosing for a line, not a region — what each projection optimises
- Flying a curve in straight legs — paths and directions
- The conic is the whole family — the families
- The curvature of the Earth is not one number — the impossibility
- Where the worst point is — measuring distortion
- Conformal does not mean the angles are right — what is taught wrongly
- Distortion has a direction — measuring distortion
- Where a pseudocylindrical puts its error — the families
- Grid north is not north — the families
5–8 August 2026
34 essays on the families, what each projection optimises, the impossibility, paths and directions, measuring distortion and what is taught wrongly
- Cylinders, cones and planes — the families
- Every projection minimises something — what each projection optimises
- No map is faithful — the impossibility
- The shortest route is not straight — paths and directions
- Tissot's indicatrix — measuring distortion
- Web Mercator is not conformal — what is taught wrongly
- Mercator against Peters — what is taught wrongly
- What a standard parallel buys — the families
- What can be unrolled — the impossibility
- What survives a change of coordinates — measuring distortion
- Which projection is best — what each projection optimises
- Why Mercator exists — paths and directions
- Compromise projections — what each projection optimises
- The aspect is a free choice — the families
- The gnomonic companion — paths and directions
- The projection that shows true size — what is taught wrongly
- The trade-off is two lines — the impossibility
- The two ways a map is wrong — measuring distortion
- Chebyshev's criterion — what each projection optimises
- Measuring instead of naming — measuring distortion
- The Earth is a sphere, and when it is not — what is taught wrongly
- The great-circle vertex — paths and directions
- Total curvature and the scale rule — the impossibility
- Transverse Mercator and the series that computes it — the families
- Geodesics on the ellipsoid, and why they are hard — paths and directions
- Geodetic against geocentric latitude — what is taught wrongly
- Giving up continuity — what each projection optimises
- Measuring curvature from inside — the impossibility
- Scale distortion is the third failure — measuring distortion
- UTM and the zone system — the families
- Datum shifts dwarf projection errors — what is taught wrongly
- Distortion over a region — measuring distortion
- The projections that gave up being one thing — the families
- The plate carrée, the projection nobody chooses — what is taught wrongly