THE VIDEO SHELF · map projections
Gall--Peters Projection
A short clip from The West Wing in which characters argue for the Gall-Peters map projection over Mercator. It dramatizes how standard maps distort the relative size of countries.
Why HN readers recommended it
It is the go-to link in any HN thread on map projections, usually posted as the obligatory West Wing reference.
This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.
Video & recommendation details
- Creator / channel
- UsefulClips
- Topic
- map projections
- Format
- comedy
- Level
- general
- HN recommenders in dataset
- 2
- HN mentions in dataset
- 8
- Recommendation years in dataset
- 2015–2024
These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.
From the original HN conversations
Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.
The West Wing clip on maps is still one of the best ways to teach someone about how different our classic maps are from reality: [VIDEO]
Amorymeltzer on Hacker News · 2015-11
In The last unmapped places on EarthRequisite West Wing scene[1] on the subject (which is probably always going to be my top YouTube search because it’s fantastic). [1]: [VIDEO]
eyelidlessness on Hacker News · 2020-11
In The True Size Of Countries: Mercator projection
Summaries, classifications and recommendation records are from the HackerTube source dataset. Read about this library and its limitations.
