Description:
The map, as an innovation, is extremely important. Simply constructing a useful representation of our world onto a piece of paper (or clay or vellum or whatever) vastly increased the capabilities of humankind. But we continue to add and alter this medium, in ways that allow for greater understanding of our world and even of ourselves.

So in this video I talk about 42 maps that are really amazing.

Resources that were very helpful included:
http://www.reddit.com/r/mapporn
http://www.worldmapper.org/index.html
http://www.twitter.com/amazing_maps
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/maplab/
And this story is just AMAZING
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/09/jerry-gretzinger-map-ukrania/

Thanks to Katherine for being my research assistant on this one :-)

ALL THE MAPS!
United States on the Moon
http://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/18gyym/to_give_some_sense_of_scale_the_united_states/

Carta Marina:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carta_marina

The Town of Chicago
http://www.oldimprints.com/pages/books/46792/illinois-chicago/map-of-chicago-incorporated-as-a-town-august-5-1833

Pomponius Mela
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomponius_Mela

Seven Billions
http://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/104wwo/seven_billions_the_world_divided_into_seven/

Australia is Empty
http://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/1ibsap/2_of_australias_population_lives_here_oc1501x1402/

More in than Out
http://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/1dqh7d/after_seeing_a_recent_post_about_the_population/

...Actual Circle
http://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/1dsssf/there_are_more_people_living_inside_this_circle/

Longest Straight Line
http://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/15mwai/the_longest_straight_line_you_can_sail_almost/

On a Globe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpQwuGueeoA&feature=youtu.be

Earth Sandwich Locations
http://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/1iy7xm/land_on_earth_where_there_is_also_land_the_other/

Alcoholic Drink Preference
http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/en/

Side of the Road
http://chartsbin.com/view/edr

Joshua Katz Linguistic Maps of America
http://www.businessinsider.com/22-maps-that-show-the-deepest-linguistic-conflicts-in-america-2013-6?op=1

Metric Use
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Metric_system.png

Maternity Leave
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/02/17/opinion/17coontz2-map/17coontz2-map-popup.png

Juvenile Death Penalty
http://www.prisonpolicy.org/atlas/juvenile_dp_in_modern_world.html

World Mapper
http://www.worldmapper.org

Carna Botnet Project
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carna_Botnet

A Day in the Life of Air Traffic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1L4GUA8arY

Population by Latitude
http://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/1dddhq/worlds_population_by_latitude_longitude_xpost/

The True Size of Africa
http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2010/11/cartography

Ptolemy's Map
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemy's_world_map

The Sawley Map
http://blog.metmuseum.org/penandparchment/exhibition-images/cat300r2_49e/