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Cake day: July 3rd, 2024

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  • It says “not to scale”, which in the world of mapping means very specifically that the scale is inconsistent. An exaggerated vertical scale would not include the disclaimer for “not to scale” and is very common, as I already said. It’s common for maps showing vertical reliefs like profiles or cross sections to have a horizontal scale of something like 1:20 while the vertical dimension has a scale of 1:5 or 1:10, which would still be considered “to scale”. If you still can’t fit everything on a single sheet, you can add a break line or a jog to indicate a discontinuity, but the map would still be “to scale”. This map is “not to scale” because it says so, so the only real information we should be able to glean from it are the connections between things; size, angles, and lengths as are meaningless because that’s what “not to scale” is specifically warning us about.



  • Why bother making this at all if it’s not to scale? Sure, nobody expects the horizontal scale to be the same as the vertical scale. Vertical exaggeration is common when displaying profiles or cross sections, but those are generally still considered to be at a particular scale. But, if the vertical scale isn’t consistent, then what even is the point of the graphic? Just list some numbers in a table. Putting this in graphical form without a consistent scale is just lying and lazy.



  • There’s a bit of a difference though between those computer driven iterative digital numerical methods and an analog continuous geometric object. It’s like comparing pixel density and film grain. At a fine enough precision they become difficult to distinguish, but they are not the same. You could definitely use iterative methods to build a “continuous” solver at an arbitrary precision. We pretty much have to do it that way for any signficantly complex function.

    Sorry, this comment got away from me and feels kind of incoherent now. I’m just trying to say that analog and iterative digital methods have subtle differences that one should remain aware of.