The World Through Maps: A History of Cartography [Hardcover]

John Rennie Short (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 4, 2003 | ISBN-10: 1552978117 | ISBN-13: 978-1552978115

The history of mapping from prehistoric times to the present.

This book explores how maps were developed and why they reveal as much about the people who created them as they reveal about the world. Throughout the ages, maps have reflected religious beliefs, disseminated propaganda, expressed cultural attitudes, and promoted new theories.

Through accessible text and color images, the book traces the fascinating history of cartography. The ancient Greeks were brilliant cartographers whose mapping skills were honed as a result of the global conquests of Alexander the Great. Their understanding of a spherical Earth and how to depict it on a flat sheet of paper was nearly lost during the Middle Ages.

The book explains why in the 15th century, the value of sea charts rivaled gold as a primary target for buccaneer captains. Later, maps became status symbols among wealthy merchants who built vast fortunes thanks to thriving trade routes made possible by reliable sea navigation.

The World Through Maps is abundantly illustrated with historically important maps to explain the development of cartography. Significant maps include:

• Aboriginal Dreamtime map
• Ancient Greek maps including Ptolemy's map
• Medieval maps of Europe
• Ortelius's Atlas, World Theatre
• Early maps of the New World
• Lewis and Clark's maps of exploration
• Modern maps in the age of satellites

Contemporary maps are so accurate and plentiful that they are often taken for granted. The World Through Maps is a lively book that tells why this was not always so.

(200401)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Mapping the world is one of humanity's most enduring passions, something we've done with varying degrees of success for over a thousand years. Short, a geography professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, has managed to compile an astonishing number of those efforts in his latest book. From aboriginal rock carvings to Native American celestial charts to modern-day satellite maps, all types of maps are included in this gorgeously illustrated volume. The book's chronological structure is simple yet elegant, drawing readers along as cartography develops in different lands and different cultures. And its histories are nothing if not comprehensive, with examples plucked from countless periods. But rather than combining the mesmerizing illustrations with poetic odes to humanity's quests, Short offers text that's almost jarringly basic (e.g., "The producers of maps are called mapmakers"). But the engrossing visual tale of humankind's struggle to chart the world-part adventure, part art-is enough to stand impressively on its own. 200 photos, maps and diagrams
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Colorfully illustrated history shows how maps for cities, subways, weather, and even 'moral statistics,'... have helped people navigate the Earth. (Josie Glausiusz and Maia Weinstock Discover 200401)

From aboriginal rock carvings... to modern-day satellite maps, all types of maps are included in this gorgeously illustrated volume. (Publishers Weekly Annex 20030915)

Lavishly illustrated... very concise and well-written reference work on the history of cartography. (Bradford Eden American Reference Books Annual, Volume 35 2004)

A seductive investment... Almost every page here is a voyage of discovery, and of wonder. (Alexander Varty Vancouver Georgia Strait 20031204)

The strength of the book is its breadth and its central thesis -- that all map-makers make judgements. (Jonathan Sher London Free Press 20031206)

Amply illustrated book shows how far we've come in a relatively short time when it comes to mapping our routes. (Joseph Kula CanWest News Service 20031220)

Expertly written in a stimulating style, full of illuminating asides... useful introduction to a large and important subject. (George Falconer Geomatica (Canadian Institute of Geomatics) 200404)

A handsomely illustrated introduction to the history of maps... elegantly reproduced maps that richly supplement the authoritative text... highly recommended. (Edward K. Werner Library Journal 20031015)

Short puts the many maps printed on these pages in the context of history. (Science News 20030927)

A very visual history... If you enjoy old and new maps as I do, this book will be a treat. (William R. Green The Leading Edge (Society of Exploration Geophysic 20040124)

Accompanied by hundreds of color photographs and illustrations of maps, some of which are truly works of art. (Laszlo Buhasz Globe and Mail 200503)

Brilliant guide to using maps... a superb resource to help us understand the maps we use. (Dave Obee Victoria Times-Colonist )

Sumptuous illustrations... crystal clear prose and not a jot of pretentiousness. (Globe and Mail )

Finely produced... amazing breadth... a valuable introduction to cartography... the author reminds us that objective-appearing maps can be deceptively subjective. (Fred Donnelly New Brunswick Reader )

A succinct and superb introduction... a comprehensive history of cartography... highly recommended without reservation for all academic and reference collections. (Lynn C. Westney E-Streams )

Highlights of the history of cartography in all parts of the world... beautifully illustrated... a very useful general interest book. (Tim Ross Review of Atlases, Books and Digital Resources )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Firefly Books (October 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1552978117
• ISBN-13: 978-1552978115
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,321,913 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointing, July 13, 2004

By 

Pierre (South Bend IN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The World Through Maps: A History of Cartography (Hardcover)

I do not wish to be as strident as the previous reviewer, but I generally agree with those conclusions. The book is very attractive but is filled with factual errors. It is a collection of very many (too many) short (just a page or a few pages) discussions of very disparate topics. There is no connection made. More disturbing than the factual errors is the overall lack of understanding of historiography that comes through. There are scenes described that could only have happened in an Errol Flynn movie. Great emphasis is given trivial issues whereas germinal events in carto-history are ignored.My overall impression is that the author is not knowledgeable in this field and has produced an error-ridden potboiler. I do not recommend this book to anyone, even rank beginners.

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Rubbish, June 23, 2004

By 

"legal723" (Boston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The World Through Maps: A History of Cartography (Hardcover)

I have discarded my copy of this book. It is rubbish. The pictures are nice but the book is a chaotic mess of infobits that are unconnected. One canot learn a history of maps or mapping from this book. It is also full of errors. He seems to confuse Apianus with Munster and can't tell a Munster from a Schedel. and doesn't know the difference between a globe and armillary sphere. The book seems to be a compilation of unedited snippits submtted by students - there is no contextual wholeness. I have collected maps seriously for about 15 years and find this book irritatingly full of glaring errors. It is potentially damaging to anyone who wants to learn about maps.

6 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tour de force, July 30, 2004

By 

Madeleine "bask212" (Northeast USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The World Through Maps: A History of Cartography (Hardcover)

In The World through Maps: A History of Cartography, geographer John Rennie Short demonstrates a keen sensitivity to maps' undeniable appeal through an expert selection of 200 maps, reproduced in full color, and all representative of mapmaking's heights from Paleolithic times to the present. Short draws upon recent scholarship in the history of cartography (Making Space, 2004; Mapping the Republic, 2001; and Alternative Geographies, 2000), producing a multifaceted study that extends the latest thinking in cartography to a general audience. Short's other major areas of specialization--globalization, urbanism, and environmental concerns-make him uniquely qualified to address with authority precisely those issues that exist at the nexus of cartographic representation. The confluence of Short's research interests and popularizing instincts distinguishes The World through Maps from other standard books about cartography for the general public, which often focus primarily on simple chronology and description, usually with an antiquarian emphasis. By presenting a body of knowledge relating to how maps and their makers have produced the world, its contested realities, and its competing claims, Short acknowledges that those spatial appetites currently endowing new energy to social theory persist way beyond the academy. In recognizing and addressing this widening interest, The World through Maps raises the bar for all future books on the history of cartography intended for the general public.

Short's aim to sophisticate a nonprofessional audience's appreciation for the cultural significance of cartography is evidence of the utmost pedagogical dedication. He magnifies this instructive generosity through a text that is free of jargon, devoted to the clear expression of complex ideas and respectful of all levels of intelligent inquiry. For the novice, there is an introductory chapter on the language of maps. Apposite historical sidebars and succinct captions filled with an intriguing miscellany of information complete the supplementation necessary to support the new learner. The well-placed auxiliary texts combine with the chronological organization of the main text to comprise an encyclopedic primer of cartographic history. Furthermore, Short puts the reader at ease by personalizing the text with a sense of humor, well-chosen autobiographical anecdotes, and an occasional, strategic Socratic question.

Along the way of this book's very "good read," the reader will amass an astonishing amount of well-integrated knowledge regarding the historically important maps of land, sea, and sky created by the major protagonists in cartography for a variety of purposes, from metaphysical speculation to land speculation. The reader also will soon perceive that maps always have been "present at the creation," indeed have had large shares in that creation. Maps have generated, recorded, organized, and disseminated the cultural processes of dreaming about, moving through, charting, claiming, and developing territory. It is not long before the perceptive reader realizes that no place in the world is unaffected by cartography and that this has been the case ever since the first ephemeral hand gesture pointed the way. John Rennie Short masterfully narrates and illustrates both, as he says, "the story of the map and the story in the map." The World through Maps: A History of Cartography is a tour de force in terms of reaching a general audience because it not only appeals to a public understanding of geography but also elevates it.