Product Details

• Format: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Athena
• DVD Release Date: August 4, 2009
• Run Time: 306 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001UWOLPC
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #110,009 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Shown on PBS when the series was first released, The Shape of the World has until now only had limited availability through VHS. Now readily available on DVD, these six 50-minute episodes will, for those of us for whom world geography is a foggy haze, serve as a welcome crash course. Why do maps matter and what are their political implications? While this topic may sound dry, The Shape of the World is ultimately fascinating, especially as narrated by Patrick Stewart of Star Trek fame. Produced in consultation with the British Library and the Royal Geographical Society, the series functions like a college course: episodes are broken up chronologically and thematically and there’s even a 20-page supplementary booklet that asks pertinent questions about each show. All in all, it reminds one just how arbitrary and subjective drawing up a map can be.

Episode One, "Heaven and Earth," starts the series off on a lofty cosmological note, detailing beliefs in Egypt, China, ancient Greece, and Europe regarding the shape of the planet and how Earth was formed. Opening with scenes set at a map-reading ceremony on the island of Java, the episode covers both indigenous cultural views and Western philosophy with adept acuity. Philosophers and museum curators show works of art that encapsulate past beliefs, and the subject matter is far-reaching. Where did Ptolemy's accurate maps disappear to during the Middle Ages? And how does the history of silk production factor into influencing worldviews about a round earth versus a flat one? Each ensuing episode follows similarly. Episodes three and four, "Staking a Claim" and "Empire!" survey naval exploration of the Americas and the French, English, and Dutch colonization of countries such as India and Australia to illustrate how the New World was mapped out based on a few men's opinions. Native Americans and Indian scholars alike are interviewed on historical topics, and for these reasons the show feels round, as if it's offering a holistic view in efforts to create a more accurate map of public opinion. One of the best parts about the series is that important maps are discussed politically, economically, and artistically.

Episode six, "The Writing on the Screen," shows us what in 1990 was a new technology invented for ambulances: GPS driving systems. Though this and other later episodes feature dated computer technology, it is interesting to meditate on our advances and to consider what purposes inventions were originally meant to serve versus what they are presently used for. --Trinie Dalton

Product Description

The epic tale of mapping the globe

As seen on PBS

"Explores the history of mapmaking with elegance and intelligence" --The New York Times

How do we see the world? Some ancients believed it rode on the back of a turtle. The Greeks viewed it as a sphere and measured it with astonishing accuracy. Today, scientists monitor it from space, detecting complex climate patterns that threaten our survival.

Narrated by Patrick Stewart (X-Men, Star Trek: The Next Generation), this fascinating six-part series traces the history of mapmaking from crude clay tablets to sophisticated electronic screens. Internationally respected historians, NASA scientists, and other experts explain how humans rely on imagination, observation, and mathematics to create pictures that make sense of our world. Throughout history, maps have served as symbols of wealth and power, tools of conquest and subjugation, and instruments for saving lives. They once held information worth killing for, and now they offer clues that might avert global destruction.

Award-winning actor Patrick Stewart narrates this acclaimed series, produced in consultation with the British Library and Royal Geographical Society--the world’s largest scholarly organization dedicated to the science of geography.

SPECIAL FEATURES

•  20-page viewer’s guide includes highlights, questions to consider, avenues for further learning, "Tools of the Mapmaker’s Trade," "The Math Behind a Map," and "Myths on Maps."
• "The Chartbusters": pioneers in cartography
• Text interview with Patrick Stewart
  
• Biographies of Stewart and series editor Simon Berthon
• Exclusive web extras
  

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A VISUAL & EDUCATIONAL MAP THROUGH THE HISTORY OF CHARTING GEOGRAPHY, June 25, 2009

By 

Harold Wolf "Doc" (Wells, IN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Shape of the World (DVD)

THE SHAPE OF THE WORLD,a global mapping DVD set goes beyond just a documentary. It's a detailed in-depth educational study of maps of all kinds. From the earliest to today's computer and satellite images--it's all covered. Meet the adventurers that paved the way.

It's easy for us to key in an address and get a road map or birds-eye view of nearly any location in the world on a computer screen from our home, office, or car. But how did that all come about? Who made it possible? When did the mapping begin? Why? Was it all for the good? What is next?

It's all covered in this scholarly set. The people who gave their lives, used their careers, spent fortunes, and suffered innumerable hardships are presented in an easily understood, but quite comprehensive explanation of how our earth has been measured, mapped, photographed, and the information made available to virtually all of mankind.

Fantastic visual presentations (travelogue quality) of countries, locations, artifacts, people, and other aspects of mapping the earth are provided in this beautiful, colorful, 3-DVD set. It includes narration by Patrick Stewart (also in "PLAYING SHAKESPEARE"), interviews from princes & scientists, to commoners, and a musical score pleasing to the ear.

"THE SHAPE OF THE WORLD" taught me more about maps and geography than I learned through 4 years of high school. It's entertaining, on an intellectual level. This is a map evolution documentary, not a TV comedy/romance series. But expect to be awed by adventure and bravery of those who worked to make life better for the rest of us. These chart making pioneers have done more for mankind than almost any political leader could claim. A TOP documentary production.

Episode 1: Heaven and Earth, Egypt, China, Greeks, & Christian influence;
2: Secrets of the Sea, Sea charting, awesome;
3: Staking a Claim, countries seek supremacy via maps;
4: Empire!, surveying India, narrator's favorite;
5: Pictures of the Invisible, the ocean floor & under the ice;
6: The Writing on the Screen, what today and tomorrow?

SUBTITLES-YES!! They help, because not everyone in the world pronounces locations the same.

An elegant well-produced 306 minutes of an educational series recommended for any school, university, library, or home seeking mental enrichment.

4.0 out of 5 stars Exciting and Engaging Series, October 24, 2011

By 

yardoftin "mailcoach" (Attica, KS USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Shape of the World (DVD)

This set covers the exploration and mapping of the world in a way that I wish my geography and history texts, in school, had. School textbook writers often display an uncanny ability to take all the excitement out of some very interesting subjects. The fact that the maps of early European exploration routes were so valuable that they were top secret and that obtaining copies was of national importance is overlooked in most history and geography courses. This information makes, what are often considered dull subjects, far more interesting. If you are a geography or history teacher, this series is guaranteed to engage students and be a perfect starting point for classroom discussions and reading assignments.

The importance of Malta, in map making, is often overlooked in history courses. Since it was the Jewish community of Renaissance Malta, who were responsible for these important maps, this provides a good opening to many other discussions, such as how prejudice can harm a country, and the importance of various ethnic or religious groups in history.

The other reviewer has covered the description of this set very well, so I will not engage in unnecessary repetition. I just want to say that if you watch this series, you will learn many things that you should have, but didn't learn in school, and you will enjoy geography far more.