1949 John Sparks Infographic Chart or Histomap of Evolution

A real oddity, this is a colorful 1949 John B. Sparks infographic chart or 'histomap' of evolution. Tracing 'ten thousand million years' of history, the chart begins 'ten thousand million' years ago and follows the development of life on Earth. Coverage extends roughly from the creation of the 'Origin of the Earth' to the founding of the United Nations in 1945 and the 'Spread of Communism'. All editions then push speculatively into the 'future' as far as 1990.

A Closer Look

The large central portion, with its curvy lines, employs seven colors and starts with the emergence of protozoa and other unicellular organisms and ends with a popular pseudoscience of the 1930s and 1940s: conflating nationality with race. The chart includes Germans, French, British, Slavs, Russians, Americans, Chinese, and Japanese. The different eras and periods in Earth's history, the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic Eras, are included along both the right and left sides. The shorter periods, such as the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous, are identified with short summaries of what occurred during each. The right side traces the emergence of life and how it developed during each period, while on the left geological, cultural, and historical events are noted.

A Short History of the Chart

Overflowing with information, Sparks spent fourteen years working on the Histomap of Evolution. A bacteriologist and chemical engineer, an interview with Sparks appeared in the Plainfield, New Jersey Courier-News on October 13, 1932, shortly after the first edition of the Histomap. Sparks originally did not want to have the Histomap published, so why it ended up in publication is not made clear. Per the article, the Histomap gave renewed fervor to the debate over evolution, a topic known for its controversy (see the Scopes Monkey Trial).

Sparks' Own Comments About the Chart

Sparks is quoted at length in the article in the Courier-News. We believe that his language sheds light on the world in which this chart was created and may have some relevance today. Evolution has not lost any of its controversy in the last ninety years, and Sparks' comments ring true even now.

I regret to hear that the Histomap has aroused the evolution controversy again, as the present conflict is not between science and fundamentalism, but between behaviorism and spirituality. Modern mystics and other spiritually minded men and women accept evolution but do not deny God or Christ, and these spiritual forces must combine against the growth of materialistic behaviorism as represented by Dr. John B. Watson and Charles Dorsey.

Fundamentalism, instead of being the bulwark of religion, is its most vulnerable spot. It is outmoded and inconsistent with modern thought, a very 'heel of Achilles' which we must dispose of before we can establish a firm front in this new conflict. Evolution applies to mental and spiritual growth as much as to the development of man as an organism.

Publication History and Census

This chart was published by Rand McNally in three editions in 1932, 1942, and 1949. The current example bears only the 1932 date, but historical content up to about 1945, suggests this is the 1949 edition. The 1942 edition seems to be the most commonly held by institutions, with perhaps five holdings. We see no examples of the 1932 first edition or, as here, the 1949.