Charts for a study
The wall beside a desk is prime reference space. Whatever hangs there gets consulted without a browser tab, without a search, and without the several minutes a search usually turns into.
What suits it is the material used mid-task: status codes and CSS properties, the working areas of Git, unit prefixes and paper formats, Morse and the phonetic alphabet, the Greek letters that turn up in every formula, and the size conversions wanted the moment something is ordered from abroad.
A4 is usually enough at desk distance. Print on white, on whatever printer is already in the room — that is what these files are built for.
THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
eighteen decades of frequency · and how much of it the eye sees
RESISTOR COLOUR CODE
the bands, the tolerances and the preferred series of two standards
THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE
five categories of hurricane wind — and how much more damage each next one does
SPEED THRESHOLDS
six thresholds where a different physics begins · every figure computed, not typed
WHAT A TORNADO BREAKS
twenty-eight damage indicators — and the wind at which each one gives way
CROCHET SYMBOLS
the standard chart symbols, abbreviations and US/UK name differences — per the Craft Yarn Council standards
MORSE CODE
26 letters and 10 digits · dot, dash
PHONETIC ALPHABET
the ICAO standard · for radio and telephone
FLAG SEMAPHORE
two flags, eight positions 45 degrees apart — all 26 letters; after the numerals sign A–I read as 1–9 and K as 0
MARITIME SIGNAL FLAGS
the twenty-six alphabet flags of the International Code of Signals — and what each one means alone
NUMERAL PENNANTS AND SUBSTITUTES
how to fly the same flag twice in one group with only one set aboard
BISHOP
a diagonal at any distance — and the half of the board that will never come
KING
one square in any direction, from three in the corner to eight in the middle, and castling
KNIGHT
the nearest square off the lines, over pieces, and four moves to the square next door
THE MOVES OF THE PIECES
all six moves from one square, the article of the rules and how many squares each piece holds
PAWN
one square forward, two on its first move, capturing diagonally — and never going back
QUEEN
file, rank and diagonal together — from twenty-one squares to twenty-seven
ROOK
fourteen squares from any square of the board — the one piece that does not care where it stands
CURRENCY MINOR UNITS
178 codes in the standard: 139 currencies divide by 100, 17 do not divide at all, 7 divide by 1,000 — and 25 codes are not money you can spend
APERTURE, SHUTTER, ISO
one stop is twice the light: three scales with the same step on each
NEEDLES AND YARN
knitting needle sizes in three systems — metric, old UK, US — and the 0–7 yarn weights per the Craft Yarn Council
LEAP SECONDS
27 seconds added to UTC since 1972, none since 2016 — the longest run there has ever been
PAPER SIZES
the A series · from A0 to A6
PHOTO PRINT SIZES
how many millimetres each size really is, and how much of the frame goes under the knife
CAMERA SENSORS
seven sizes at one scale, with the crop factor computed from the diagonal
SI BASE UNITS
seven constants given an exact number — and the seven units that follow from them
SI UNITS WITHOUT NAMES
the endless rest: assembled from the base and the named units, and never with a factor
SI DERIVED UNITS
twenty-two with names of their own — and what each one is made of
SI PREFIXES
from quetta to quecto · twenty multipliers
THE TALLEST BUILDINGS
the ten tallest at true scale — and where the floors in them end
THE WORLD'S TIME OFFSETS
37 offsets from UTC−11:00 to UTC+14:00 — a spread of 25 hours over a 24-hour day
THE AMERICAN WIRE GAUGE
forty-four sizes derived from two diameters and one law of progression
BICYCLE CLASSES
frame, wheel by ISO 5775 and handlebar — three signs of a class, and what the frame is rated for
CAR CLASSES
segments A to F by length and bodies by box count — how to name any car you see
MOTORCYCLE CLASSES
rake, trail, wheelbase and seat height — six classes drawn at one scale
PETROL AND DIESEL
nine lines of comparison, and in three of them the requirement is the same for both
THE RACING LINE
one corner, three apexes, the time computed
TYRE SIZE
what the sidewall marking is made of and what it works out to