Seeing Through Maps: Many Ways to See the World [Paperback]

Ward Kaiser And Bob Abramms Denis Wood (Author), Ann Hopkins (Editor), Omit (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 14, 2006

Seeing Through Maps is a thoughtful compilation of text and illustrations incorporating the history of mapping with the purposes for which maps are made. Map projections are a particular focus.

Editorial Reviews

Review

substance-packed⿦thought provoking without being complicated or convoluted. --The Geographical Review

absolutely the best introduction available on map projections, their history and importance. The text weaves the theory and history of maps-at-large -- from mental maps to amateur work to high cartography -- into a seamless thematic whole.⿦erudite and invigorating⿦ satisfying and illuminating --Professor Tom Koch of the Department of Geography at UBC

compulsively readable⿦discusses a number of projections I had known nothing about, and even succeeded in making some new points about Mercator. --Professor John H. Andrews of the Department of Geography at

About the Author

Featured on Ira Glass's This American Life, Denis Wood is one of America's best-loved experts on the significance and meaning of maps. Wood loves maps and loves to talk about them. Besides Seeing Through Maps, Wood is the author of the best-selling The Power of Maps. He also curated the award-winning exhibition of maps at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. A writer/artist, Wood is also a social scientist. He has published over 60 articles in a variety of journals that ranges from Industrialization Forum to The Journal of Environmental Psychology. He co-authored the best-selling World Geography Today, and Home Rules. His Five Billion Years of Global Change was published by Guilford Press in 2004. He has books in press with Guilford, ESRI, and the Center for American Places. Ward Kaiser has been a publisher, ecumenical executive, pastor, teacher, and community organizer. He introduced the Peters Projection world map to North America, publishing its first English-language version in 1983. His handbook to that map, A New View of the World, "the most effective piece of writing that has come out concerning the Peters Projection," is widely used by educators and social activists. National Public Radio, NBC-TV, CBC-Radio all have had Kaiser as a guest. He has lectured extensively at colleges and universities and led worldview workshops and professional development seminars. Dr. Bob Abramms is an international expert on designing, conducting and evaluating management training and executive development programs. Bob's background includes a B.S. in engineering, Master's degrees in both business and counseling, and a doctorate in applied behavioral science. He has published five books and over fifty articles on leadership, motivation, human relations training, prejudice, stereotyping, and cultural differences.

Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: ODT, Inc.; 2nd edition (July 14, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931057206
• ISBN-13: 978-1931057202
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,392,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting topic, well written, loses a star for poor production, October 20, 2006

By 

F. Gibbons (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Seeing Through Maps: Many Ways to See the World (Paperback)

This book is published by a small publishing house in Massachusetts, and the production shows. The cover on the book I received looks more like the earlier edition (not like the one shown here), though it contains maps of the 2004 US presidential election. The format is 'landscape' (pages wider than they are long, though page size is still only letter/A4), like the older edition. I got it yesterday, and browsed it after dinner.

The writing style is conversational, rather than academic, and is peppered with rhetorical questions. The authors appear as characters in the opening chapter, presumably to ground the thesis of the book: that maps represent not a picture of an objective reality, but a personal point of view. So it's not an academic book, really. It might be used by high-school seniors, or perhaps college freshmen, in an introductory class. It's designed to encourage its readers to ask questions about the maps they use in life. Just as history is written by the victor, so maps are drawn by the conqueror.

My only real disappoinment with the book is the production, rather than the content: the cover is brightly illustrated in colour, but the book itself is entirely black and white. Buckminster Fuller's triangular-grid 'projection' of a photograph of the earth's surface is striking in color, but loses most of its impact without color. The same can be said for the 'planting guide' map of the US - seven shades of grey fail to make the same impact as the seven colours of the rainbow. There are reproductions of old maps which just don't do them justice at this scale: many of the maps seem reproduced from old worn plates. Perhaps that's inevitable for historical maps, but it's a shame. The overall design of the book is also disappointing: the fonts used (kind of random mixture of serif/sans-serif, dissonant sizes for headings and text), the amounts of whitespace (not much), and the greyed-out sidebar boxes - they all combine to give it that 1991-desktop-published-from-a-Mac look, which I found a little strange for a book that's all about the importance of representation.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting material but relatively poor layout, August 9, 2009

By 

UpNorth (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Seeing Through Maps: Many Ways to See the World (Paperback)

A loosely tied compilation of items - essentially a series of presentation stapled together. No color. Interesting stuff that was not professionaly published.