What can a map of notable births and deaths reveal about the spread of culture?
Culture spreads through people, but how does that really happen? This data visualisation from Nature Video charts the movement of 120,000 prominent cultural figures – predominantly European and North American – between 600 BC and 2012 CE, by plotting lines between where each one was born and died. While limited by its Eurocentrism – reflecting history as written by the victors – the visualisation proves to be an interesting tool for reimagining history.
Video by Nature
videoWork
Like a cheery Sisyphus, Fred dismantles an industrial chimney one brick at a time
12 minutes
videoGlobal history
After the fall of the Iron Curtain, a young couple discovers a strange, newly open world
18 minutes
videoDemography and migration
The volunteers who offer a last line of care for migrants at a contentious border
30 minutes
videoHistory
In Stalin’s home city in Georgia, generations clash over his legacy
20 minutes
videoHistory
In the face of denial, this film uncovers the hidden scars of Indonesia’s 1998 riots
21 minutes
videoProgress and modernity
Moving from Tibet to Beijing, Drolma reconciles big dreams with harsh realities
31 minutes
videoArt
A young Rockefeller collects art on a fateful journey to New Guinea
7 minutes
videoDemography and migration
In California’s farmlands, immigrant workers share their stories of toil and hope
17 minutes
videoNature and landscape
‘A culture is no better than its woods’ – what our trees reveal about us, by W H Auden
5 minutes