46 Items Tagged

Marvelous Maps and Measures

Otford, England

Otford Solar System

In this scale model, our neighboring planets are represented by metal spheres spread across an English village. The nearest stars are represented by spheres in California and Australia.

Art Challenge: Make Your Own Amazing Maps

Show us how you navigate your world today.

Michelle Cassidy April 30, 2020

Osborne, Kansas

Geodetic Center of North America

This lesser-known geographic marker was the reference point for all surveys of the continent for 75 years.

Uppsala, Sweden

Anders Celsius's Thermometer

The first thermometer made with the almost-universal temperature scale is backwards.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Amsterdam Ordnance Datum

This large copper bolt represents the benchmark for measuring sea levels in most of Europe.

Stockholm, Sweden

1/4 Milestone of Stockholm

This stone obelisk is a relic of the 17th-century Swedish mile markers.

Grand Canyon Village, Arizona

Powell Memorial

A monument to the one-armed geologist who led the first documented expeditions through the Grand Canyon.

Saint-Cloud, France

Le Grand K

The former global standard for the exact mass of one kilogram sits under lock and key outside Paris.

Kronshtadt, Russia

Kronshtadt Sea Gauge

This historic system is the zero level benchmark for measuring the depths and altitudes of the Baltic.

Budapest, Hungary

Zero Kilometer Stone

The geographical center of Budapest is marked with a 10-foot-tall stylized zero.

London, England

Public Standards of Length

19th-century scientists would make the pilgrimage here to verify the precision of their measuring sticks.

Gaithersburg, Maryland

U.S. National Prototype Kilogram

This golfball sized platinum iridium cylinder is the official starting point for all national weight calibrations

Guatemala City, Guatemala

Mapa en Relieve

An impressive century-old, to-scale topographical map of Guatemala.

Ghan, Australia

Lambert Centre of Australia

Finding the exact middle of a giant land mass is hard to determine, but this spot managed to do the trick.

Nilometer

An ancient instrument used to measure the waters of the Nile so Egyptian farmers would know whether to expect famine or flood.

Washington, D.C.

Washington Mini Monument

There's a 12-foot-tall replica of the Washington Monument hidden under a manhole nearby.

8 Scale Models That Make Nature More Manageable

The majesty of nature, scaled down.

Molly McBride Jacobson September 15, 2016

Kilometre Zero

A stone slab in Madrid marks the point from which the distances of Spain's national roads are measured.