Mapping: Ways of Representing the World [Paperback]

Daniel Dorling (Author), David Fairbairn (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0582289726 | ISBN-13: 978-0582289727 | Publication Date: June 22, 1997 | Edition: 1

Illustrates how maps tell us as much about the people and the powers which create them, as about the places they show. Presents historical and contemporary evidence of how the human urge to describe, understand and control the world is presented through the medium of mapping, together with the individual and environmental constraints of the creator of the map.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 1 edition (June 22, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0582289726
• ISBN-13: 978-0582289727
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #620,743 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #91 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Earth Sciences > Cartography

More About the Author

Danny Dorling has lived all his life in England. To try to counter his myopic world view, in 2006, Danny started working with a group of researchers on a project to remap the world (www.worldmapper.org). He has published with many colleagues more than a dozen books on issues related to social inequalities in Britain and several hundred journal papers. Much of this work is available open access (see www.dannydorling.org). His work concerns issues of housing, health, employment, education and poverty. Before a career in academia Danny was employed as a play-worker in children's play-schemes and in pre-school education where the underlying rationale was that playing is learning for living. He tries not to forget this. He is an Academician of the Academy of the Learned Societies in the Social Sciences and, in 2008, became Honorary President of the Society of Cartographers. In 2011 He became a patron of the charity Roadpeace.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Book on Maps with Meaning..., December 26, 2000

By 

Paul F. Starrs "geography fan" (El Cerrito, CA, and Reno, NV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mapping: Ways of Representing the World (Paperback)

Finding this book in the geography section of one of my favorite bookstores was, well, "a find," and especially so because there is a lot masquerading as "geography" or "mapping" these days.

This, as it happens, is the real thing. The British authors have constructed a kind of dream volume for those who want to boost the visual or geographic literacy of their friends, children, neighbors, or students. 'Tisn't a book just for geographers, though those in that profession will love this item. It's at least as much for the many, many, many folks in the world who understand that they don't know what they should about how the world is expressed in maps, and who feel more than a passing need to remedy that inadequacy.

Who's this for? I'd say anyone who has read and learned from the work of Edward Tufte, and as much, for those who revel in the writings of Mark Monmonier, cartography's current gray eminence and a brilliant scholar to boot. But this is also for those who just love maps: The Thelin and Peak SLAR map of the lower 48 states, Erwin Raisz's work, or the luminous cartographer of such great as Eduard Imhof.

The sole drawback is the price -- that's a pocketful of change, and were the ducats sought a few less, this would be a five-star choice, hands down.

Read it, love it, and learn.