|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
The Mapmakers: Revised Edition |
|
|
|
 |
The Mapmakers: Revised Edition
List Price: $16.95
Our Price: $11.53
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Vintage
Author: John Noble Wilford
Binding: Paperback
Publication Date: 2001-12-04
Publisher: Vintage
Label: Vintage
Number Of Pages: 528
Features:
|
|
Editorial Review:
In his classic text, two-time Pulitzer Prize—winner John Noble Wilford recounts the history of cartography from antiquity to the space age. With this revised edition, Wilford brings the story up to the present day, as he shows the impact of new technologies that make it possible for cartographers to go where no one has been before, from the deepest reaches of the universe (where astronomers are mapping time as well as space) to the inside of the human brain. These modern-day mapmakers join the many earlier adventurers–including ancient Greek stargazers, Renaissance seafarers, and the explorers who mapped the American West–whose exploits shape this dramatic story of human inventiveness and limitless curiosity.
Cached date: AWS Called=true
You may also be interested in these products:
These categories may also be of interest to you:
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Rating: 
Thorough and Interesting Review of Subject  2007-09-14
Facisnating book, especially the ancient history and the posibility of Columbus knowing more about the New World than we may think (pp.72-76). However, there are some glaring errors. Like when the author blames the destruction of the Alexandria Library on "Christian mobs." Sorry, that's a myth. Then he blames Middle Age ignorance on Christians. Newsflash, the Renaissance didn't just appear out of nowhere. The Middle Ages is where universities began and monks preserved and passed on knowledge. Nor did everyone think Earth was flat, nor does the Bible say so. Nor were the Arabs the savior of Europe. Sure they did pass on some ancient literature, but who advanced and who stayed mired in the Middle Ages? If you can get past these flaws, this is a great book. See also: The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success
Mapping the World as we don't know it  2007-04-10
Besides giving you a lot of information this book is also very well written. It feels like in the beginning of the book we have one big white sheet of paper and we have to get our pencils out and start drawing. The first chapters give us some sense about how Europe looked but with the chapters on the Travels of Discovery (Cook for example) we can draw more lines of the coastal areas. When in the 18th century entire countries are mapped the map becomes clearer and clearer. With the coming of computers the pencil lines could now be drawn with black ink.
Even for those not really interested in the History of Maps this book is amazing. It is also a book on mathmetics, history and astronomy.
Maps are my hobby and I've read a lot about them, but this book is definitely the best so far. It goes beyond the history of mapmaking that we usually get, maps that show what we can see: landscapes, roads, borders, sea/land, rivers etc. In the latter chapters he also writes about the tech advances in radar and even mapping from space. Up to Mars even. It goes to show that even though we know where a mountain or city is on a map, it's a much broader subject than you might think of beforehand.
Maps of the world and beyond 2006-10-02
This book is a history of map making, and hence a history of the world. Starting with the earliest known maps in Iraq in -2300 BCE, both the history of discovery of the world and the cartographic principles are traced. For those of us that were taught that Columbus discovered the world is round, the calculation of the earths diameter in 300 BC shows this was widely known. Ptolemy's first cartographic principles are presented. Past the middle ages and their mythical maps, we are introduced to Mercator's projection, a measurement of degrees, and John Harrison's lifetime quest for measuring longitude (readers of this will enjoy Dava Sobel's book Longitude). Three chapters are devoted to the mapping of America (there is more than just Lewis and Clark).
The final two parts of the book discuss some of the newer mapping techniques including aerial and radar mapping; geologic and seismic mapping, Antarctica, and Oceanic sea floor. Although large expanses, some of these area have just been mapped in the 20th century. The final part discusses Global Position Systems, and mapping of the moon, mars, and the cosmos. For those of us working with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) this book provides a nice antidote to thinking that mapping starting with the computer.
The book is well illustrated, but some of the pictures could really have improved with a little color. The book does really well at presenting a background of the people involved, and realizing their own personal quests. Some of the underlying cartographic principles are also presented.
A book that teaches  2005-02-14
I love giving people books as gifts. Last year, I gave this book to my father for Christmas. He seemed to really enjoy it, and this year he gave it back to me to read. Lucky me!
As you can tell from the title, this book is a general history of mapmaking. The subject matter didn't exactly jump off of the page and slap me in the face when I sat down to read it, but Wilford has a very even writing style that kept me very interested in the subject matter.
As I read, I discovered that although I am very much a lover of history, I really had no idea how mapmaking progressed through history. I always took for granted the maps that were presented to me, never really understanding what was involved in the creation of them.
It's a facinating story, and learning it has deepened my understanding of history. Wilford's account of the story kept me engrossed, and all the while he was feeding me names of people and places that I really should have known more about prior to reading this book. For example, I had no idea who John Harrison was before opening this book, but now realize just how important his invention of an accurate marine clock was to the history of the world. There are gems of knowledge throughout this book, and thankfully they are presented in an entertaining way.
The only time I can say that I became a bit lost was when Wilford was discussing some of the mathematical points of mapmaking, but luckly for me he kept this discussion to a minimum. Wilford did an excellent job of presenting the history of something he seems to care very much about to the layperson. I believe that anyone who has even a passing interest in history to give this book a try. It may open your eyes to a world that you knew existed, but had no idea how it was made.
Where It's At 2004-08-27
I have always been fascinated by maps, as both sources of information and representations of nature's design. I'm glad I'm not alone in that regard, and anyone with an interest in maps or mapmaking will be intrigued by this heavily informative book. Wilford takes us from the very earliest maps of ancient times and lays out in-depth histories of all the uses, effects, and technologies of maps up to the present day. The early parts of the book also tell us about the often unexpected challenges faced by mapmakers, such as drawing straight lines on the round Earth (which was later found to not be a perfect sphere anyway), projecting the round Earth onto flat maps, and the sheer enormity of the task of mapping the Earth itself. It turns out that these challenges even make many current maps inaccurate. Later chapters move into modern technologies such as radar or aerial photography, which are being used to more accurately map the Earth's landscapes, as well as the ocean floors and the surfaces of other planets. Just note that the second half of the book often slows down significantly with various technological descriptions of each new mapmaking tool or method, which may not tickle the fancy of non-scientific readers. But in any case, after this book you'll have a new appreciation for maps and their makers. [~doomsdayer520~]
|
|
|
|
copyright www.Monitor-Data.com
|
|
In association with
Amazon.com
|
