Lifetime Net Elevation Scores

Topi Tjukanov's popular Notable People map highlights the most "notable" person born in specific locations around the world. The designation of "most notable" is determined based on the highest number of page views of individuals listed on Wikipedia's "People from X" pages.

I’ve often pondered the idea of creating a complementary Notable Deaths map that showcases the most famous person to have died in each city around the globe. The reasoning behind such a map, albeit somewhat speculative, is that the location of a person's death might provide a better indication of where they spent the majority of their life compared to their birthplace.

However, I’ve consistently decided against pursuing this idea for two primary reasons:

1. I’ve never come across comprehensive lists of "People who died in X" on Wikipedia or elsewhere.
2. I doubt that the location of a person's death is actually any more indicative of where they spent most of their life than their birthplace.

Of course I could just look-up the individual entries of notable people on Wikipedia to discover where they died. Which I assume is where Net Elevation found their 'death place' locations for 'famous deceased' persons. 

The Net Elevation website focuses on the unique relationship between a person's life journey and geographical elevations. It presents a poetic and data-driven perspective, emphasizing the difference in elevation between a person's birthplace and death place as a simple metric to reflect on an individual's life.

Calculating Net Elevation Metrics:

Birthplace Elevation: Every individual is born at a specific geographic location, which has a measurable elevation (the height above or below sea level).

Death Place Elevation: Similarly, when a person dies, their death location has its own elevation.

Net Elevation: The difference between these two elevations - birth and death - is their "net elevation."

For example, Albert Einstein, who was born in Ulm and died in Princeton, had a net elevation score of -411 meters. Not exactly the most impressive lifetime achievement, I’m sure you’ll agree.

In essence, Net Elevation is a humorously intriguing concept that offers a brief but entertaining diversion. Now, if all that death-location data could be leveraged to create a Notable Deaths map (showing the most famous person to have died in each location around the world) then you’d really be killing it!

Via: Webcurios