Yet it is a beautifully detailed map of the Christian world, based on the topography of the Bible bewildering to the geographer, but sensible to people of faith.

ECONOMIST: There is no such thing as an objective map

"We want to capture the changes day-by-day throughout the seasons, " said geographer Mark Schwartz at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, who monitors lilacs at a thousand U.S. locations.

WSJ: A Science of Signs of Spring

He is executive editor of newgeography.com and writes the weekly New Geographer column for Forbes.

FORBES: New Geographer

He writes the weekly New Geographer column for Forbes.

FORBES: America's Agricultural Angst

John Williams is a geographer at the University of Wisconsin.

NPR: Warming Will Create Micro-Climates, Scientists Say

Using a joystick, a geographer can float above the Earth, then zoom in on the bottom of Lake Tahoe, with no loss of detail.

FORBES: Totally Wired U.

Richard Campanella, a geographer and associate director of the Center for Bioenvironmental Research at Tulane University, says there are probably 2, 000 to 3, 000 of these newly arrived young professionals in New Orleans.

CNN: New Orleans' new arrivals: Young, educated and infused with hope

In the text book Emotional Geographies, geographer Joyce Davidson (Queen's University), sociologist Liz Bondi (Edinburgh University) and environmental ethicist Mick Smith (Queen's University) dedicate an entire chapter to this complicated mix of emotions that Western travellers experience when they encounter fast food abroad.

BBC: Would you like fries with that Maharaja Mac?

So the next three years I'll be at Cambridge, becoming a geographer.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Wales | Hat-trick of A grades for student