MapBrief™

What gets measured gets managed. I made a pilgrimage to the ruins of the birthplace of “what gets measured gets managed.” The Midvale Steelworks in North Philadelphia is where Frederick Taylor and his stopwatch laid the foundation for “scientific management” at the turn of the 20th century. Notable too was his assistant there, Henry Gantt, […]

Halford Mackinder, geography’s eminent Victorian, is enjoying a sort of moment on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his birth.  Explorer, professor, and parliamentarian, Mackinder is most well know for his seminal article The Geographical Pivot of History that described the centrality of eastern Europe in exerting geopolitical power around the world.  Frankly meditating […]