Unfolded Dymaxion map with nearly-contiguous land masses.

The Dymaxion map of the Earth is a projection of a global map onto the surface of a polyhedron, which can then be unfolded to a net in many different ways and flattened to form a two-dimensional map which retains most of the relative proportional integrity of the globe map. It was created by Buckminster Fuller, and patented by him in 1946, the patent application showing a projection onto a cuboctahedron. The 1954 version published by Fuller under the title The AirOcean World Map used a slightly modified but mostly regular icosahedron as the base for the projection, and this is the version most commonly referred to today. The name Dymaxion was applied by Fuller to several of his inventions. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Adjectives: Terrestrial, Terran, Telluric, Tellurian, Earthly Atmosphere Surface pressure: 101. ... The Mercator projection shows courses of constant bearing as straight lines. ... Physical world map (2004) with country borders and capitals—click for large, 1. ... A polyhedron (plural polyhedra or polyhedrons) is a geometric object with flat faces and straight edges. ... Categories: Polyhedra | Stub ... Richard Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller (July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983)[1] was an American visionary, designer, architect, poet, author, and inventor. ... A cuboctahedron is a polyhedron with eight triangular faces and six square faces. ... [Etymology: 16th century: from Greek eikosaedron, from eikosi twenty + -edron -hedron], icosahedral adjective An icosahedron noun (plural: -drons, -dra ) is any polyhedron having 20 faces, but usually a regular icosahedron is implied, which has equilateral triangles as faces. ... The term dymaxion was used by inventor Buckminster Fuller for several of his projects, such as the Dymaxion car and Dymaxion House or the Dymaxion Map. ...

Unlike most other projections, the Dymaxion is intended purely for representations of the entire globe. Each face of the polyhedron is a gnomonic projection, so zooming in on one such face renders the Dymaxion equivalent to such a projection. Gnomonic projections are used in seismic work because seismic waves tend to travel along great circles. ...

Properties

Fuller claimed his map had several advantages over other projections for world maps. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

It has less distortion of relative size of areas, most notably when compared to the Mercator projection; and less distortion of shapes of areas, notably when compared to the Gall-Peters projection. Other compromise projections attempt a similar trade-off. Mercator world map Nova et Aucta Orbis Terrae Descriptio ad Usum Navigatium Emendate (1569) The Mercator projection is a cylindrical map projection presented by the Flemish geographer and cartographer Gerardus Mercator, in 1569. ... Peters map The Gall-Peters projection is one specialization of a configurable equal-area map projection known as the equal-area cylindric or cylindrical equal-area projection. ... The Mercator projection shows courses of constant bearing as straight lines. ...

More unusually, the Dymaxion map has no 'right way up'. Fuller frequently argued that in the universe there is no 'up' and 'down', or 'north' and 'south': only 'in' and 'out'. Gravitational forces of the stars and planets created 'in', meaning 'towards the gravitational center', and 'out', meaning 'away from the gravitational center'. He linked the north-up-superior/south-down-inferior presentation of most other world maps to cultural bias. Note that there are some other maps without north at the top. Cultural bias is interpreting and judging phenomena in terms particular to ones own culture. ... A map is a simplified depiction of a space which highlights relations between components (objects, regions) of that space. ...

There is no one 'correct' view of the Dymaxion map. Peeling the triangular faces of the icosahedron apart in one way results in an icosahedral net that shows an almost contiguous land mass comprising all of earth's continents - not groups of continents divided by oceans. Peeling the solid apart in a different way presents a view of the world dominated by connected oceans surrounded by land.

Another rendering of a Dymaxion map.

This icosahedral net shows connected oceans surrounding Antarctica.

Image File history File links Dymaxion_map_unfolded-no-ocean. ... Image File history File links Dymaxion_map_unfolded-no-ocean. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Animated map exhibiting the worlds oceanic waters. ...

Impact

A 1967 Jasper Johns painting depicts a Dymaxion map. "Map (Based on Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion Airocean World)" hangs in the permanent collection of the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. Jasper Johns, Jr. ... Museum Ludwig at night The Museum Ludwig is one of the most important museums in Cologne, Germany. ... For other uses, see Cologne (disambiguation). ...

External links

• Buckminster Fuller Institute
• Fuller Map homepage
• PDF explanation of the map
• Dymaxion Project Animation
  • animation - Flash format
• Fuller Projection
• Icosahedron and Fuller maps
• Table of examples and properties of all common projections, from radicalcartography.net
• Fuller Projection Air-Ocean World Dymaxion Map
• Our Spaceship Earth: One Island in One Ocean ... from space (Satellite Self Portrait Dymaxion Map)