Map of Middle East - 5000 years in 90 seconds

[barondave]

Map of Middle East - 5000 years in 90 seconds

I usually don't pass this stuff along, but this one is pretty good Flash animation. I'll also recommend "George Lucas Presents: Singing In The Rain" which I can only find on salon.com's Video Dog section (requires subscription) but will probably wind up on the Chocolate Cake City site (click on the Videos tab).

While I was in DC for Thanksgiving, I had a chance to read my brother Joseph Romm's latest book, Hell and High Water: Global Warming--the Solution and the Politics--and What We Should Do which will be out in January. It will alter how you think about the immediacy of inaction on climate change. Reserve your copy now!

Comments

[davidwilford.livejournal.com]

Thanks for passing along the Flash animation. It's something my sister the high school history teacher might like too.

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

That map is fascinating, but what I would love to see is the gray areas identified all through it--what was going on there, outside the primary empire of the moment?

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Me too. I think they cut a lot of corners for the sake of simplicity (and file size). A more comprehensive set of Flash animations would make a great teaching tool.

[mplsvala.livejournal.com]

90 seconds, huh? Not on this old thing. It was so slow I was afraid it was stuck several times. But it was interesting enough that I was willing to wait it out and I did't lose my internet connection during the process. I was wishing they had labeled the water bodies so that I could stay oriented as the map view shifted. Neat.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Considering the map took 5000 years to make, you can wait a few more seconds to watch it zip by. Agree about the level of detail but, as above, that would have made the file larger.

[mplsvala.livejournal.com]

Ook. It was more like 17 minutes though.

[nancymcc.livejournal.com]

I love explanatory animation! I want to become the world's guru (which doesn't explain why I never update my content at http://www.explanimation.com ).

This has been added to my collection. The critic in me says they shouldn't have shown radial growth; I doubt if the Roman Empire reached every point 500 miles from Rome in the same year. Nonetheless...

Thank you. Please send anything else of the sort my way!