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Featured Article: Cartography

A celestial map from the seventeenth century, by the Dutch cartographer Frederik de Wit.

Cartography, however mechanized it becomes, remains both a science and an art. The aesthetics of any given map will always be a critical component essential to the conveyance of information. A map must provide accuracy and in the best of solutions, an inventive presentation of data or analysis of data, but always in a form that is readily comprehensible and inviting to the reader. A map is both more, and less, than simply geographical or physical space. And it is always a result of artistic and technical judgments, creating something both useful and, occasionally, beautiful.

Popular Article: Meaning of life

The question of the meaning of life is perhaps the most fundamental "why?" in human existence. It relates to the purpose, use, value, and reason for individual existence and that of the universe.

This question has resulted in a wide range of competing answers and explanations, from scientific to philosophical and religious explanations to explorations in literature. Science, while providing theories about the How and What of life, has been of limited value in answering questions of meaning—the Why of human existence. Philosophy and religion have been of greater relevance, as has literature. Diverse philosophical positions include essentialist, existentialist, skeptic, nihilist, pragmatist, humanist, and atheist. The essentialist position, which states that a purpose is given to our life, usually by a supreme being, closely resembles the viewpoint of the Abrahamic religions.

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