Atlas of Macroscopes: Interactive Data Visualizations

A fascinating data adventure through the lens of macroscopes, which offer us illuminating and holistic views of our ever-changing world.

In Atlas of Macroscopes, Katy Börner, Elizabeth Record, and Todd Theriault take you on an epic data adventure. You will explore data landscapes, designed as uniquely interactive spaces, and learn more about our world and your place in it. You will gain new perspectives on how to gather, understand, and communicate data, as well as how to best use it. You will discover what it means to “touch” data that informs and inspires.

Transcending the static nature of the maps featured in the initial trilogy, this fourth Atlas showcases 40 real-life macroscopes, or interactive data visualizations, that were displayed in the first decade (2015–2024) of the traveling exhibit Places & Spaces: Mapping Science.

Encompassing vast amounts of data, macroscopes give us holistic views of complex systems or networks. They provide an entry point for scientists and laypeople alike, and empower us to engage directly with large datasets and to conduct our own lines of questioning. As interactive tools, macroscopes connect data creators and users. As portals to continuously evolving data, macroscopes can serve as windows to the dynamics of any terrain—personal or professional, local or global—and offer key insights into our surroundings and even our place in the universe.

While big data is creating new ways to view and understand information, macroscopes help us see the big picture as we seek to better navigate our ever-changing world.

Katy Börner is Victor H. Yngve Distinguished Professor of Engineering and Information Science in the Departments of Intelligent Systems Engineering and Information Science at the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering at Indiana University Bloomington, where she is also the founding director of the Cyberinfrastructure for Network Science Center. She is the author of Atlas of Science and Atlas of Knowledge (both MIT Press) and a co-curator of the Places & Spaces: Mapping Science (scimaps.org) exhibit.

Elizabeth G. Record is the associate director of the Cyberinfrastructure for Network Science (CNS) Center at Indiana University. She co-curates the Places & Spaces: Mapping Science data visualization exhibit. She holds an MA in anthropology and museum studies from the University of Denver and a BA in English from Carleton College. With curatorial experience at a variety of nonprofit and public institutions, she has particular expertise with public-facing content development in library and museum settings.

Todd N. Theriault is a co-curator of the Places & Spaces: Mapping Science exhibit. Upon receiving his MA in English from Miami University in 1998, he spent 15 years teaching literature and composition at Indiana University, the University of Cincinnati, and Xavier University of Ohio. An educator at heart, he has spent the last decade introducing audiences worldwide to the power and potential of science maps and macroscopes.