On the Map

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Cartography enthusiasts rejoice the bestselling author of the Just My Type reveals the fascinating relationship between man and map.Simon Garfield s Just My Type illuminated the world of fonts and made everyone take a stand on Comic Sans and care about kerning Now Garfield takes on a subject even dearer to our fanatical human hearts maps.Imagine a world without maps How would we travel Could we own land What would men and women argue about in cars Scientists have even suggested that mapping not language is what elevated our prehistoric ancestors from ape dom Follow the history of maps from the early explorers maps and the awe inspiring medieval Mappa Mundi to Google Maps and the satellite renderings on our smartphones, Garfield explores the unique way that maps relate and realign our history and reflect the best and worst of what makes us human.Featuring a foreword by Dava Sobel and packed with fascinating tales of cartographic intrigue, outsize personalities, and amusing pocket maps on an array of subjects from how to fold a map to the strangest maps on the Internet, On the Map is a rich historical tapestry infused with Garfield s signature narrative flair Map obsessives and everyone who loved Just My Type will be lining up to join Garfield on his audacious journey through time and around the globe. Read On the Map by Simon Garfield – kino-fada.fr Amiable, intermittently fascinating and too comprehensive for its own good On the Map is all over the map When it s good, it s very good, at least if you re a chartophile like me, and it offers a rich storehouse of anecdotes on everything and everyone from Ptolemy to Skyrim But as a single narrative it never really hangs together.Did I know, before I read thi...Who here loves maps and can pore over a map of an unknown territory, real or fictional, for hours imagining the geography and the adventures to be had Yeah you are one of those people, a lot of us are In fact I d hazard to say that a majority of geeks and nerds are It s part of who we are and a natural expression of our imagination and deep passion for things.In the last couple of years there has been a few books about maps starting to be published It seems that we are all rediscovering our Who here loves maps and can pore over a map of an unknown territory, real or fictional, for hours imagining the geography and the adventures to be had Yeah you are one of those people, a lot of us are In fact I d hazard to say that a majority of geeks and nerds are It s part of who we are and a natural expression of our imagination and deep passion for things.In the last couple of years there has been a few books about maps starting to be published It seems that we are all rediscovering our childhoods love of the atlas and also discovering that we weren t the weird outsider we thought we were The last book on maps I read was a beauty, Maphead by the wonderfully hilarious Ken Jennings see my review on goodreads.com Ken takes a look at several applications of mapping in the last few decades and engages with these activities, interviews people involved and just has a lot of fun On the Map provides a different andtraditiona...I couldn t resist the subject It was worth the read as he covers all of the subject areas that I liked and what I believe would interest most people However, his presentation was often light and lacking in cohesion in critical areas.How maps evolved and helped shape our view of the world is the biggest focus We start with Ptolemy achieving an accurate estimate of the diameter for our spherical world and early influential maps and globes that at least put the Mediterranean world in place The I couldn t resist the subject It was worth the read as he covers all of the subject areas that I liked and what I believe would interest most people However, his presentation was often light and lacking in cohesion in critical areas.How maps evolved and helped shape our view of the world is the biggest focus We start with Ptolemy achieving an accurate estimate of the diameter for our spherical world and early influential maps and globes that at least put the Mediterranean world in place The loss of his perspective for about a millennium was a surprise, made up for with development of medieval maps filled with morality messages and pathways to Jerusalem The stories of explorers such as ...A collection of entertaining anecdotes Not particularly mind expanding, not at all knowledge expanding, unfortunately One good sample tidbit is that the popular Hic sunt dracones here there be dragons is just a misrepresentation, those words never permeated medieval maps after all Another is the origin of the expression orienting oneself If the bulk of the anecdotes were similarly obscure or offbeat, the book might have been worth it The poetical intro by Dava Sobel is the best chapte A collection of entertaining anecdotes Not particularly mind expanding, not at all knowledge expanding, unfortunately One good sample tidbit is that the popular Hic sunt dracones here there be dragons is just a misrepresentation, those words never permeated medieval maps after all Another is the origin of t...This fascinating geographical look at our world is completely enthralling, and which takes you on the most exciting, remarkable journey This beautiful book is something to treasure, and which will delight fans of Geography, fine art and those who wish to explore the world and study different continents and countries This book explores our loves for maps and for looking at the world, and which many readers including myself will find not only fascinating and enchanting but something that is to t This fascinating geographical look at our world is completely enthralling, and which takes you on the most exciting, remarkable journey This beautiful book is something to treasure, and which will delight fans of Geography, fine art and those who wish to explore the world and study different continents and countries This book explores our loves for maps and for looking at the world, and which many readers including myself will fin...I confess that I have a nerd like relationship with maps, especially historical maps I can watch them and study them endlessly and always do new discoveries, adding the visual information to what I already have in my brain, offering a new perspective on things Simon Garfield knows this kind of predicament very well He brings a very light and yet well documented history of the development of cards, up to and including the stage of the digital maps He s not afraid of anecdotes and great storyl I confess that I have a nerd like ...Confident and fascinating history of the production and uses of maps Maps in the Great Library of Alexandria The subsequent cartographic Dark Age Why the Americas were named after a man who arrived a year after Columbus How demographic maps were used to fight disease epidemics.The final part considers if the cliche that there are sex differences in navigation has any basis in fact Perhaps the abridger took a shortcut, but I fear that studies of rats and just so stories about presumed hah Confident and fascinating history of the production and uses of maps Maps in the Great Library of Alexandria The subsequent cartographic Dark Age Why the Americas were named after a man who arrived a year after Columbus How demographic maps were used to fight disease epidemics.The final part considers if the cliche that there are sex differences in navigation has any basis in fact Perhaps ...BOTWListen here Garfield starts his journey through the story of maps in the Great Library of Alexandria where, for the first time, scholars began to plot the wider world.Ptolemy s atlas of AD 150 was to provide a template of the world forthan a thousand years and it was a version of this that Columbus took with him when he set sail for Japan in 1492.Producer Clive Brill A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4 1 All Facebook, Google and hu BOTWListen here Garfi...It probably doesn t surprise you that, in addition to being a book geek and a techno geek, I m a map geek Are you a map geek, too If you are, then this book is for you Every story out there with a map subtext is here Treasure maps Maps from Lewis Clark Map thieves The...Da hat sich der Autor aber echt M he gegeben und unz hlige Dinge recherchiert Dachte ich Anfangs noch, es ginge tats chlich vor allem um geologische Karten und f r den Hauptteil des Buches trifft das auch zu aber es werden auch Karten ganz anderer Natur vorgestellt So zum Beispiel die Geisterkarte , die die Choleratoten in London kartierten und so eine Eind mmung der Krankheit herbeif hren konnte Oder eine Gehirnkarte, die die einzelnen Regionen des Kopfes markiert, wie sie vor einigen J Da hat sich der Autor aber echt M he gegeben und unz hlige Dinge recherchiert Dachte ich Anfangs noch, es ginge tats chlich vor allem um geologische Karten und f r den Hauptteil des Buches trifft das auch zu aber es werden auch Karten ganz anderer Natur vorgestellt So zum Beispiel die Geisterkarte , die die Choleratoten in London kartierten und so eine Eind mmung der Krankheit herbeif hren konnte Oder eine Gehirnkarte, die die einzelnen Regionen des Kopfes markiert, wie sie vor ei...

On the Map
  • English
  • 17 May 2017
  • Hardcover
  • 464 pages
  • 159240779X
  • Simon Garfield
  • On the Map