The Measure of Manhattan: The Tumultuous Career and Surprising Legacy of John Randel, Jr., Cartographer, Surveyor, Inventor

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John Randel Jr 1787 1865 was an eccentric and flamboyant surveyor Renowned for his inventiveness as well as for his bombast and irascibility, Randel was central to Manhattan s development but died in financial ruin Telling Randel s engrossing and dramatic life story for the first time, this eye opening biography introduces an unheralded pioneer of American engineering and mapmaking.Charged with gridding what was then an undeveloped, hilly island, Randel recorded the contours of Manhattan down to the rocks on its shores He was obsessed with accuracy and steeped in the values of the Enlightenment, in which math and science promised dominion over nature The result was a series of maps, astonishing in their detail and precision, which undergird our knowledge about the island today During his varied career Randel created surveying devices, designed an early elevated subway, and proposed a controversial alternative route for the Erie Canal winning him admirers and enemies.The Measure of Manhattan is than just the life of an unrecognized engineer It is about the ways in which surveying and cartography changed the ground beneath our feet Bringing Randel s story into the present, Holloway travels with contemporary surveyors and scientists trying to envision Manhattan as a wild island once again Illustrated with dozens of historical images and antique maps, The Measure of Manhattan is an absorbing story of a fascinating man that captures the era when Manhattan indeed, the entire country still seemed new, the moment before canals and railroads helped draw a grid across the American landscape. Free Read eBook The Measure of Manhattan: The Tumultuous Career and Surprising Legacy of John Randel, Jr., Cartographer, Surveyor, Inventor author Marguerite Holloway – kino-fada.fr I expected a book that dealt with how Manhattan got to be the way it isWhile this book does that to a certain extent, it spends a great deal of time detailing the life John Randel, Jr Perhaps I should ...A Good Biography butIt tended to go into too much detail about Randall Also, the author would occasionally throw in some contemporary characters that I felt weren t needed But, overall, it was interesting to learn about the person that surveyed New York City.The book is about the work of the man who made the famous map of the street grid of Manhattan, before the street grid existed on the ground.This book is full of detail and set the scene for environments past and present, ever intertwined I benefited from learning about surveying, and enjoyed the biographical elements about a passionate and interesting person.All at once meandering, broad in scope, and inspirationalThis book offers some very interesting insights into the development of the grid system in NYC, a topic that initially lured me to this book based on the title and cover I have a potentially questionable habit of wanting to know as little as possible about a book before I read it, so I was unaware that this book was focusedon Randel s life and work that was limited to New York Though he is clearly someone who deserveshistoric recognition then he gets, I was not particularly This book offers some very interesting insights into the development of the grid system in NYC, a topic that initially lured me to this book based on the title and cover I have a potentially questionable habit of wanting to know as little as possible about a book before I read it, so I was unaware that this book was focusedon Randel s life and work that was limited to New York Though he is clearly someone who deserveshistoric recognition then he gets, I was no...I wanted this book to bethan it is John Randel, Jr is the surveyor responsible for the New York grid system which has defined the city for two centuries His compulsive nature gave us the grid the way it is todaycarefully measured, right angles correct, departing from the system only when topography or previous streets intervened This part of the book is most interesting.Randel seems to have been at the top of his field as far as accuracy and detail were concerned However, he didn t I wanted this book to bethan it is John Randel, Jr is the surveyor responsible for the New York grid system which has defined the city for two centuries His compulsive nature gave us the grid the way it is todaycarefully measured, right angles correct, departing from the system only when topography or previous streets intervened This part of the book is most interesting.Randel seems to have been at the top of his field as far as accuracy and detail were concerned However, he didn t unde...I loved the Mannahatta Project, which attempted to use GIS mapping to recover what Hudson encountered in the early 17th century landing in New York In order to do that, geographers had to get back to the grid system laid out by John Randel, an early 19th century surveyor, inventor, engineer and general innovator who imposed order on the landsc...As an NYC phile, I was excited to read about the history behind its layout However, I stopped reading this book 87 pages in because the text was hard to follow and of low interest The author repeats herself she described the same tangential story twice That kind of thing irritates me She also uses pronouns too much a...I fastened on this book whilst looking for my next listen through Bolinda s digital audiobook lending service and, as a surveyor, I found the whole business of the measurement and setting out of Manhattan and other places by John Randel quite fascinating He was not an easy man and his successes were interspersed with miserable failures, litigation how American and encounters with doubtful individuals Sometimes the writing reads like a summary of the careful research behind it but it is a I fastened on this book whilst looking for my next listen through Bolinda s digital audiobook lending service and, as a surveyor, I fou...

The Measure of Manhattan: The Tumultuous Career and Surprising Legacy of John Randel, Jr., Cartographer, Surveyor, Inventor
  • English
  • 16 December 2019
  • Hardcover
  • 384 pages
  • 0393071251
  • Marguerite Holloway
  • The Measure of Manhattan: The Tumultuous Career and Surprising Legacy of John Randel, Jr., Cartographer, Surveyor, Inventor