[286-6] Patents

This globe here plots the total amount of patents granted worldwide,
beginning in 1883 with just under 50,000, continuing to 2005 on a
rapid climb towards 1.5 million according to statistics published by
WIPO - the World Intellectual Property Organization. Geographic
regions where countries offer environments conducive to fostering
innovation are represented by topography.
Almost half of the 5.6 million patents in force in 2005 are owned by
applicants from Japan and the US.

[286] Patents

[286-3] Patents

This globe here plots the total amount of patents granted worldwide, beginning in 1883 with just under 50,000, hitting 650,000 in 1993 (near the North Pole), and (shifting the scale to the southern hemisphere) continuing to 2002 on a rapid climb towards 1 million. Geographic regions where countries offer environments conducive to fostering innovation are represented by topography. Additionally, nations where residents are granted an average of 500 or more US patents per year are called out in red by their respective averages in the years after 2000.

[218] Production Capacity: Bikes vs. Cars

Surging car production slowed down as a result of oil price increases and environmental awareness in the first half of the 1970s. Meanwhile, the demand for bicycles boomed as incomes rose rapidly in China. In 1980, twice as many bicycles as cars were produced; today, the ratio has almost tripled.

[215] “Car” in 80 Languages

Although it’s a modern invention and a modern word, at least 80 languages have a word for “car”. The Native American tribes of Blackfoot and Hopi have a word for it, and even the car-less Zulu and Ethiopian nations give the four-wheeled wonder a name.

[216] Superhighway to the Future

A 24-lane superhighway packed bumper to bumper would have to circle the globe 1.8 times to accommodate the world’s 440 million cars in 2000. By the year 2030, however, the superhighway to the future would have to circle the globe 4.25 times to accommodate the projected1020 million cars at that date. A hypothethical parking lot to accommodate this car population would cover all of Belgium.

[212] Fuel Efficiency Timeline

1990 represents the 100% level for a number of different fuel efficiency correlatives. German fuel efficiency is indicated in blue; world efficiency in green; fuel consumption in yellow; oil price per barrel in orange; and car population in black. In all it becomes apparent that even as fuel efficiency increases, car population and fuel consumption increases easily offset any fuel conservation.

[202] Car Populations

Every small dot represents 100.000 to 1 million cars, larger dots 1 to 2 million.

[206] German Car Production

If each car produced in Germany in 1998 were to equal 1 square kilometer, then different-sized “Germanies” would result in the present globe. Here the six major car producers assimilate continents and countries of their own.

[200] VW –World

Production sites of companies belonging to the Volkswagen Group. The extension of this network through the recent acquisition of the heavy truck manufacturer Scania, with production sites all over Scandinavia as well as in Holland, Poland, France and South America, is not yet shown on this globe.

[201] Manufacturing Work Forces

The respective sizes of landmass in this geography of industrial work forces are informed by the amount of industrial workers in each country. In Germany every 7th job is directly or indirectly car-related.

[195] Road Density

Five categories of miles of road per square mile of territory are shown: [0-0,1] [0,0,5] [0,5-0,9] [0,9-2] [2 and above]. Monaco statistically has the highest percentage: up to 1/3 of its territory is paved.

[197] Five Largest Car Makers and Market Shares

[189] G8

The group of the 8 major industrialized nations shares the common objective of shaping world economics. Their claim to leadership is based on a defacto control of 2/3 of the world economy. The G77, founded in 1964 to represent the poorer states, has now 133 member states and is largely unknown.

[170-2] Solar System

[156] Global Trade Currents

Divided into six major trading areas, global trade currents vary widely between different regions and partners. Each millimeter in arrow width represents $10 billion in yearly trade. The amount of global trade has quintupled since 1975, thus reinforcing notions of a “global” economy.

[100-2] Balance of Trade 2003

Countries in black have a positive trade balance -- the red ones have a negative one.

[84] Fault Lines

[70] Refugee Republic

Dotting the globe, the estimated 47 million refugees account for 1% of the world population. If it were possible for refugees to pack and take with them a proportional part of their country (measured at the world-wide average of approximately 37 people per square kilometer) it would piece together into a state the size of France, Germany, England and Italy combined (or more than twice the size of Texas)
The width of the arrows indicates the relative amount of refugees (1970/80s)

[45-2] Wittgenstein

[13] Population Volume

Size of white rectangle equals size of population. The question will not be what, but how to feed a population which will exceed 10 billion in the next century. Since 1985, due to agricultural engineering advances, the earth has yielded more food than we can possibly consume; yet geopolitical structures continue to leave millions of people dying of starvation.

[319] Submarine Fiberoptic Network

The width of lines represents transmission capacity.