Cartography

Have you ever wanted to see the whole big world all at once. Like a superhero flying high in the sky. I help you do that. I can make big, tall mountains look small. I can make wide, wiggly rivers look like little blue lines. I can even make a whole city fit on a tiny piece of paper. Before you even know my name, you have seen my pictures. I show you how to get from your cozy house to the fun playground. I am Cartography, and I love to draw maps.

Once upon a time, a long, long, long time ago, people drew one of my very first pictures. Around 600 BCE in a place called Babylonia, they took a soft, squishy piece of clay and drew their world on it. They drew a big river and tall mountains. It was a special picture that helped them understand their home. Many years later, around the year 150, a very smart man named Ptolemy tried to draw all the places he knew about in a big book. For hundreds and hundreds of years, people looked at his drawings. They helped sailors find their way across the big, blue ocean. The little boats could sail to new places and not get lost.

Today, I am everywhere. I am like a little bit of magic in your pocket. I am the map on your family’s phone that tells the car which way to go. Vroom, vroom, turn left. I help pilots fly their big airplanes way up high in the clouds. I can even show the weather reporters where big, fluffy clouds might bring rain for puddle-stomping. I show you where sleepy lions live and where your best friend’s house is. With me, you can explore your own neighborhood or dream of adventures all over the globe. I help you see that we all share one big, beautiful world together.