kylec | Entries tagged with 001

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Rock, apparently, is not a synonym for stone. Now, I know a lot of words, and the definitions to most of them, but I went a little over three decades before I encountered this geological distinction in an anecdote that Barry Lopez shares in his book Horizon—a distinction that he, too, missed for years. A rock is still what you would expect. The hard stuff made of minerals. A stone, however, is a rock that has been modified in some way for human use. Crushed for gravel, shaped for a cornerstone, knapped into an arrowhead. I guess that means that rocks belong to geologists, and stones to archaeologists*.
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This blog is about maps. If you plan on exploring a place you’ve never been—let’s say New Orleans, Louisiana—having a map is a good idea. A political map will tell you that New Orleans is a dot in a boot called Louisiana, which is a boot in a shape called America. You’ll be able to see the dot where you stand, and the borders of all the other states and their relative positions. If you’re Alfred Korzybski in 1931 and you’re going there for a conference, that’s a nice start, but drawing a line between Chicago and New Orleans and setting out on foot might not be the easiest way to get there. For starters, there could be hills. Even mountains. You might want to check a topographical map to find out if veering this way or that might save you some effort, and a map of the waterways and crossings to keep your wool socks dry.

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