Mapping the World: An Illustrated History of CartographyThe map is one of humankind's most basic and essential tools. The oldest to survive is a 4,300-year-old road map inscribed on a clay tablet by an ancient Babylonian; the most modern are marvels of technical accomplishment that are viewed on a computer screen and chart everything from nearby towns to craters of the moon and Mars. The story of their evolution is an engrossing, revealing exploration of how we have understood and represented our world throughout history. This magnificent book highlights more than a hundred maps from every era and every part of the world. Organized chronologically, they display an astonishing variety of cartographic styles and techniques. they range from priceless artistic masterworks like the 1507 Waldseemüller world map, the first to use the name "America," to such practical artifacts as a Polynesian stick chart, a creation of bent twigs, seashells, and coconut palms that was nevertheless capable of guiding an outrigger canoe safely across thousands of miles of trackless and seemingly endless ocean. Some, like the portolans, or sea charts, of the Age of Discovery, were closely guarded state secrets that shaped the rise and fall of empires; others circulated widely and showed such fabled routes as the Silk Road across western Asia and the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails that opened up the American West. Ralph E. Ehrenberg, former chief of the Geography and Maps Division at the Library of Congress, begins his story with a compelling introduction on mapping through the ages. His running commentary places each map in historical context, identifying the great cartographers and scientists and explaining how major developments such as the invention and perfection of the magnetic compass and the chronometer, and later the computer, revolutionized the science of mapmaking. Featuring scores of superb cartographic art culled from the finest collections in the world, this authoritative and breathtaking volume more than lives up to the National Geographic Society's long tradition of cartographic expertise as it spans centuries and continents to dazzle everyone with an interest in maps and mapmaking. -- Book Jacket |
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19th century aerial photographs Africa armillary sphere artist Asia astronomer atlas atlases Blaeu British cartographic Chinese CIRCA cities CLIMA coast color compass continent copies COPPERPLATE ENGRAVING depicted detailed drawn Dutch Earth East England Europe European exploration France French German globe graphic HAND-COLORED ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT illustrated images India Islamic island Japan Japanese Johannes Kaaba Korean Lake land later latitude Library lines longitude map of China map publishers mapmakers MARE MARIE THARP Mars Mediterranean miles military Ming dynasty mountains National Geographic National Geographic Society National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency navigation Ocean official ORBIS Pacific panoramic Paris Piri Reis place-names portolan charts portrayed prepared printed produced Ptolemy qibla region represented rhumb lines Richard Edes Harrison River road map route sailing satellite scale sheets ships Spanish surveying and mapping surviving symbols Terra topographic maps traditional Waldseemüller Waldseemüller's West Western Willapa Bay woodcut world map اذا على