Exploring Geographic Information Systems (Paperback)

~ Nicholas Chrisman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a truly excellent distillation of the comprehensive nature of geographic information handling in computerized systems." -- Society of Cartographers Bulletin, Vol.35, No.2

"a novel, yet coherent and complete picture of what is involved in the science and organization of this technology...a truly excellent distillation of the comprehensive nature of geographic information handling in computerized systems." (Society of Cartographers Bulletin, Vol.35, No.2) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Description

This exploration of geographic information and geographic information systems (GIS) expands the discussion beyond the normal input-processing-output sequence. It begins by examining the manipulations that support analytical uses of GIS, including measurement and frameworks, representations, data quality, transformation and operations, parametric mapping, simple logic and overlay, taxonomy, distance transformations and surfaces. It then moves on to discuss operations that connect the practical exercises in the book to professional applications of GIS techniques in bureaucratic, social and cultural contexts.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 298 pages
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc; 1 edition (December 23, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471108421
• ISBN-13: 978-0471108429
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #949,424 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A refreshing perspective, December 13, 2004

By	Konstantinos-N (United States) - See all my reviews

This book is the main text for an undergraduate course in GIS in my university department. The book serves as a nice introduction to some fundamentals of GISs and does a particularly good job at linking the theoretical constructs and concepts with specific application domains. There are many examples of the applicability of the theories on specific industrial and governmental projects.

Chrisman is a gifted author and provides a refreshing perspective of how to think about geographic information systems. It all starts rather abstractly with levels of measurement, reference systems and measurement frameworks. Choices in these levels turn out to be what dictates the adoption of field vs. object data models (the classic dichotomy in GISs) and raster vs. vector structures consequently. The author then proceeds in exposing operations of increasing complexity on these structures, and does a very systematic work on categorizing them. A plethora of diagrams, figures, and footnote-definitions of important terms complement the text nicely. The final chapters on the ties of GISs with society and culture are also very interesting. The whole book has a flow and a strong structure, a feature that I value especially in technical books. There are no loose chapters and everything builds on what has been discussed before.

Of course as an introductory textbook it leaves out some areas of investigation and comments only scarcely on others. For example the chapters on comprehensive operations and transformations are just very generic overviews. Models such as spaghetti or topological database structures are also very superficially presented, hence the 4-star rating.

Overall, a very interesting, clearly written, and consice introduction to GISs.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding high-level overview, January 17, 2000

By A Customer

I am an experienced GIS professional and this book is one of my favorites in my library. It is the best single source for understanding the scientific and technological context of GIS. This book has changed the way I think about GIS.

The comment from the reader from Hong Kong is completely off-target. Did this person really read this book?

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview of Geographic Information Systems, July 26, 1997

By A Customer

Nick Chrisman, a legend in the field of geographic information systems, provides a refreshing perspective on GIS. I recommend this book to anyone involved in the field, particularly to those planning on teaching GIS. He places GIS in a societal context that is becoming increasing important as this technology becomes mainstream