Customer Reviews

Geographic Information Systems and Science

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this book to provide the intellectual background to "Getting to know ArcGIS", for a class I'm taking. It's fine for that, I guess, with one caveat: I found it very slow reading, for a number of reasons.

At the outset, a lot of time is spent justifying why the 'S' in "GIS" stands for 'Science', not just 'Systems'. They talk a lot about how GIS helps in generating fundamental theories of science, but doesn't really offer examples. It just came off like a bunch of academics who just don't get enough respect. But there's nothing wrong with technology, and I don't know why the authors would want to justify what is clearly technology as science. (Technology is the application of science, in my book).

Another problem, for me at least, is that it is written at such a basic level. It takes a whole page or more, talking about how data can be ordinal, nominal, categorical, etc. I just felt like the book could have been a third of the size it is, without losing much. I recognise that not all readers will find this the problem I did.

I can see why it's highly regarded: apparently, it is really the first book to gather everything you need to know about GIS under one cover, and that's no mean feat. If you have an engineering/physical science background (bachelor's level), and have ever written your own computer program, you'll likely find it tediously slow and overly explicit. (If you already know the difference between 'raster' and 'vector' graphics you'll likely feel this book is too slow.)

It's still worth reading for the history it gives about the field, and the profiles of current GIS users.

Longley's book is a well-written comprensive introduction to GIS applications, principles, techniques, analysis, and management and policy. I have the 2nd edition. Longley and coauthors clearly describe the main principles of GIS, such as representation, spatial autocorrelation, georeferencing, and uncertainty along with basic modeling, visualization, and queries. I am a nonscientist who used this book in tandem with Price's Mastering ArcGIS. Longley's use of illustrations, tables, and biographical sketches of GIS users are apt and useful. Technical boxes demonstrate mathematical formulas that the GIS is utilizing. The "further reading" section at the end of each chapter is subject-targeted and up to date. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is serious about learning GIS.

A good book for persons wishing to study the basic principles of GIS. Easy to understand although some of the examples may be a little abstract for persons with limited theoretical geographic or practical reference background. Experienced GIS persons may find it strong on explanations but a little short on practical applications.

It has examples and explains things clearly. It is a book about GIS theory and design, and understanding GIS systems in general although they use Arc software primarily for examples. Overall a useful book that is not too expensive.

The kind of people who want to read this book on Kindle are probably the same ones that would appreciate the book being offered in its most recent edition. I'm a bit confused why this isn't the case, and also why it costs more for the Kindle version than the paper version.

If you want to know how GIS works, this book will give you a complete picture of it.

This is a great reference book. Initially purchased for a class, I have returned to it several times to review key points.

This book was helpful for those new to GIS. I am taking a grad course and found this text useful in giving background information.

This text is an excellent book for people just entering into the GIS world. It is self explanatory and covers different areas in science and technical fields

I needed this text book. It was exactly as described and arrived very quickly and in good condition. For me, it provided a good overview of GIS and the management of that technology.