Bernard J.S. Cahill

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B.J.S. Cahill (Bernard Joseph Stanislaus Cahill, 1866-1944), cartographer and architect, was the inventor of the octahedral "Butterfly Map" (published 1909; patented 1913); an early proponent of the San Francisco Civic Center (1899-1909); and designer of the Columbarium of San Francisco.

His Butterfly World Map, like Buckminster Fuller's later Dymaxion Map of 1943 and 1954, enabled all continents to be uninterrupted, and with reasonable fidelity to a globe. Cahill demonstrated this principle by also inventing a rubber-ball globe which could be flattened under a pane of glass in the "Butterfly" form, then return to its ball shape.

From cover of 1919 pamphlet by Cahill, "The Butterfly Map", 8 p.
From cover of 1919 pamphlet by Cahill, "The Butterfly Map", 8 p.

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About Cahill:

  • Bernard J. S. Cahill Collection, ca. 1889-1938 (Environmental Design Archives. College of Environmental Design. University of California, Berkeley. Berkeley, California) There is also a separate collection at UC Berkeley, Bernard Joseph Stanislaus Cahill Papers, (83/39), The Bancroft Library.

By Cahill:

  • "Map of the World" (U.S. Patent 1,054,276 , 1913) Washington, DC: United States Patent Office, 1913-02-25; filed 1912-03-05
  • "Geographic Globe" (US Patent 1081207, 1913: rubber-ball globe which can flatten to a Butterfly Map, or return to ball shape.)


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