This video recreates the classic “Powers of Ten” film, zooming out to larger and larger scales to the limits of our understanding of the universe, and then zooming in again, down to the smallest things we know about.
It’s an excellent way of illustrating relative magnitudes of distance. One gripe: it all happens a bit too quickly: try watching it at half speed.
If you’re looking for numbers on Covid-19, a very good choice is to head over to OurWorldInData.com. Good numbers, good analysis, good visualisations and good interactive tools for exploring the numbers.
Oh, and they cover MUCH more than just Covid-19. Highly recommended.
This article about log scales and how to think about them (and how they naturally reflect how we think about big numbers) pretty much nails it, for me. Using log scales is an essential tool in your mental numeracy toolbox.
Thank you, Chalkface blog.
Thank you, too, Vi Hart for your passionate and engaging video on the topic.
https://thechalkfaceblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/07/why-logarithms-still-make-sense/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-7tcTIrers&feature=youtu.be
