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Cahill Butterfly Map 1909
Cahill 1909
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Cahill-Keyes M-layout world map silhouette including Antarctica
Cahill-Keyes 1975
Why Cahill? What about Buckminster Fuller?

Evolution of the Dymaxion Map:
An Illustrated Tour and Critique

Part 4


by Gene Keyes
2009-06-15

Summary: I love Bucky, but Cahill's map is a lot better. Here's how.

CONTENTS
Click inside boxes to open other sections in separate windows.
1) Introduction and
Background Notes

2) 1943:
Cubo-Octahedron,
Split Continents

3) 1944:
Cubo-Octahedron,
Whole Continents

4) 1946:
The Dymaxion Map Patent
5) 1954
Icosahedron,
Whole Continents

6) 1967 ff:
Later Editions and
World Game Versions

7) 1995 ff
Dymaxion Maps
on the Internet

8) Notes on Scaling Dymaxion Maps
9) Critique:
Dymaxion Map Compared to Cahill



Part 4
Buckminster Fuller's 1946 Cartography Patent
Enlarged and presented by Gene Keyes in two formats

Another frequent misstatement by Fuller et al is that this was the first American patent for a map projection; but Cahill had patented the octhedral projection in 1913. Nevertheless, the Fuller patent is seminal in its own right, being a forerunner to his invention of the geodesic dome.

I am reproducing this one in two formats: 1) the pdf itself directly on this website, without the Flash and clutter of Google Patent Search; 2) Jpegs enlarged to 125% of the pdf's hard-to-read fine print;  (You might be right to assume that I am not a fan of pdf, and not a fan of tiny print, whether on paper or computer screens. These easier-to-read versions are presented with my compliments, even though I have some bones to pick with the Dymaxion map.)



Buckminster Fuller map patent p.1


Buckminster Fuller map patent, p. 2

Buckminster Fuller map patent, p. 3



Buckminster Fuller map patent, p. 4


Buckminster Fuller map patent, p. 5


Buckminster Fuller map patent, p. 6


Buckminster Fuller map patent, p. 7



Though illustrating the cubo-octahedron, Fuller had written the patent to apply to other polyhedra, such as the icosahedron. However, he rejected that 20-facet figure until 1954, when his "Raleigh" edition of the Dymaxion map appeared in its now familiar form.

Go to Part 5
1954: The Third Dymaxion Map:
Icosahedron with Whole Continents
(The Raleigh Edition)

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Text cc. 2009 by Gene Keyes; Cahill-Keyes Map c. 1975, 2009  by Gene Keyes