----------------------------Original message---------------------------- The Royal Geographical Society's magazine, 'Geographical' has a remarkable Q & A section every month which deals with just such questions. Readers can also submit questions for various prizes. Their email is: [log in to unmask] Brian P. Bach Central Washington University [log in to unmask] On Fri, 31 Oct 1997, Barry S. Rein wrote: > ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- > I subscribed to this mailing list because it was announced as a good place > to get answers to difficult geography questions. Well, I have some I'd > like to ask, but first some background: > > A few years ago on public television there was a series called "Pole to > Pole with Michael Palin", an entertaining travelogue in which Mr. Palin > travelled from the North Pole to the South Pole by a variety of means. > What caught my attention was this: the route he followed approximated the > particular longitude line that covers more land between the poles than any > other longitude. I forget which one it was exactly, but it went through > Scandinavia, Russia, Turkey, and much of Africa. > > Anyway, that got me to thinking about similar questions, and these are the > ones I'd like to find answers to. For example, what pole-to-pole longitude > covers the LEAST land? I imagine it would run through the Pacific. Then > you might ask, what great circle going through both poles covers the most > land? The least land? And what great circle anywhere covers the most > land? The least? And so on. You could think up a lot more questions like > this. > > My interest here is just curiosity, but I think it would be fun to know the > answers. If anyone can give me a reference to a place that has the answers > I'd really appreciate it. > > Thanks, > Barry Rein >