An exhibition running through August 31 at The New York Public Library (NYPL) focuses on innovative methods of using maps and globes to convey and explain complex scientific developments. Geographic maps of physical places have guided mankind's exploration for centuries, drawing a line between the known and unknown, said the NYPL in a release. The maps in Places & Spaces: Mapping Science chart abstract concepts in and across a variety of scientific disciplines using information from journals, publications and public dialogue as landmarks and guideposts.

In a manner similar to the maps that explorers used, these new kinds of maps track the emergence, evolution, and disappearance of scientific topics to help identify the most promising areas of research. Places & Spaces: Mapping Science features 20 maps, a series of globes by Ingo Günther, and interactive illuminated diagrams by W. Bradford Paley.

What does a timeline of 60 years of anthrax research literature tell the viewer? Dr. Steven A. Morris's 2005 map of research papers on the topic shows the increase of new anthrax studies in late 2001, when the research community responded to the bioterror attacks of that year. Wikipedia's entry on "evolution" has changed in many minor and major ways, as the visualization of the dictionary entry by Dr. Martin Wattenberg and Dr. Fernanda B. Viégas shows. Eugene Garfield's HistCite Visualization of DNA Development is a colored map revealing citation patterns within major core papers on DNA, in which the viewer can find groundbreaking scientific writings such as Gregor Mendel's 1865 paper, the 1953 Watson-Crick work on the structure of DNA, and many others.

The exhibit is on view at The New York Public Library's Science, Industry and Business Library at 34th Street at Madison through August 31, 2006. Admission is free.

KW