Introduction to Geoscope

Geoscope is a project for myself to learn geospatial information systems (GIS) and data science. Where you can combine the application of both to discover new phenomena.

For example, given an area on a map what is the likehood that it contians a tamarack tree? Or can the spread of woolly adelgid be monitored through the tree canopy and satellite imagery? I promsie to share my findings as I go.

And with that I'll leave you with an excerpt from R. Buckminster Fuller's proposal, "The Geoscope". A most welcome north star to work towards.

With the Geoscope humanity would be able to recognize formerly invisible patterns and thereby to forecast and plan in vastly greater magnitude than heretofore. The consequences of various world plans could be computed and projected, using the accumulated history-long inventory of economic, demographic, and sociologic data. All the world data would be dynamically viewable and picturable and relayable by radio to all the world, so that common consideration in a most educated manner of all world problems by all world people would become a practical everyday, -hour and -minute event.

From our usual local, only tangentially viewed, horizon-to-horizon observations—within which we see such a small fraction of the Earth that it seems to be horizontal—we conclude that in order to be a sphere, the Earth must indeed be very, very large. Other lands and other people seem very remote and strange. The interrelationship between their activities and ours is difficult to comprehend. When one realizes, on the other hand, that we all are in fact on the surface of a very tiny spherical spaceship on a long and seemingly inexplicably purposed journey, our proximity to each other becomes clear, and the absurdity of many of our conflicts becomes evident.

For the first time in all human history humanity’s function as local Universe information-gatherer and local Universe problem-solver will be a practical reality, using the whole of Earth’s comprehensive resources and data, and incisive, computer-augmented problem-solving capabilities with all humanity’s spontaneous democratic participation, allowing humankind to use its intellect to the fullest in attempting to make our existence successful.

Critical Path, page 181.