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On the Map: A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks - Simon Garfield
On the Map: A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks
by: (author)
3.94 80
Cartography enthusiasts rejoice: the bestselling author of 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... show more
Cartography enthusiasts rejoice: the bestselling author of 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.  
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Format: hardcover
ISBN: 9781592407798 (159240779X)
ASIN: 159240779X
Publisher: Gotham
Pages no: 464
Edition language: English
Bookstores:
Community Reviews
Kaethe
Kaethe rated it
4.5 On the Map: A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks
One of my geeky delights is maps. I love to look at them. While I rarely use reference books anymore, I do still pore over my old world atlas. I like things that have mappish motifs. I have a globe. Somewhere, in a box, I have various folding maps from various trips, because that's one souvenir I fi...
halfmanhalfbook
halfmanhalfbook rated it
Maps can be a source of wonder to those that like to explore the world, or bring a sense of bewilderment to those that are directionally challenged. Garfield brings his sense of wonder to this subjectIn his engaging style, he write about all aspects of maps, from the earliest know maps, a new produc...
Myrto
Myrto rated it
4.0 On the Map: A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks
This book was actually great! I really enjoyed it a lot, though I wasn't expecting to, necessarily.I had expected a sort of chronological survey of human use of maps, and the book does take a loose chronological approach, but it's so much more than that. Each chapter is about a different type of map...
Peace, Love & Books
Peace, Love & Books rated it
5.0 On the Map: A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks
I've loved poring over maps and globes for as long as I can remember so I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Garfield takes readers on a fascinating, informative, and entertaining tour of cartographic history.
auntieannie
auntieannie rated it
2.0 On the Map: A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks
I didn't get as much out of this as I expected. My one insight was about the reorientation when someone is looking at a GPS and everywhere starts from where they are, versus a map, where you orient yourself in the whole scheme.
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