Cover of The Mapmakers

The Mapmakers

In his classic text, two-time Pulitzer Prize—winner John Noble Wilford recounts the history of cartography from antiquity to the space age. With this revised edition, Wilford brings the story up to the present day, as he shows the impact of new technologies that make it possible for cartographers to go where no one has been before, from the deepest reaches of the universe (where astronomers are mapping time as well as space) to the inside of the human brain. These modern-day mapmakers join the many earlier adventurers-including ancient Greek stargazers, Renaissance seafarers, and the explorers who mapped the American West-whose exploits shape this dramatic story of human inventiveness and limitless curiosity.

Audience
adult
Length
long · 508 pages

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Liked The Mapmakers? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked The Mapmakers. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. Cartographia: Mapping Civilizations Shares cartography, maps, nonfiction
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  3. Mercator: The Man Who Mapped the Planet Shares history, maps, nonfiction
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“If you want more of the same (history about travel), start with these.”

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“If it was the maps that hooked you, try one of these.”

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