On the Map: A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks
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Cartography enthusiasts rejoice: the bestselling author of the Just My Typereveals the fascinating relationship between man and map.
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Simon Garfield's Just My Typeilluminated the world of fonts and made everyone take a stand on Comic Sans and care about kerning. Now Garfield takes on a subject even dearer to our fanatical human hearts: maps.
Imagine a world without maps. How would we travel? Could we own land? What would men and women argue about in cars? Scientists have even suggested that mapping—not language—is what elevated our prehistoric ancestors from ape-dom. Follow the history of maps from the early explorers' maps and the awe-inspiring medieval Mappa Mundi to Google Maps and the satellite renderings on our smartphones, Garfield explores the unique way that maps relate and realign our history—and reflect the best and worst of what makes us human.
Featuring a foreword by Dava Sobel and packed with fascinating tales of cartographic intrigue, outsize personalities, and amusing "pocket maps" on an array of subjects from how to fold a map to the strangest maps on the Internet, On the Mapis a rich historical tapestry infused with Garfield's signature narrative flair. Map-obsessives and everyone who loved Just My Typewill be lining up to join Garfield on his audacious journey through time and around the globe.
Liked On the Map: A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks? Here’s where I’d start.
These suit anyone who liked On the Map: A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.
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Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks Shares nonfiction, geography, maps -
A History of the World in 12 Maps Shares nonfiction, history, maps -
The Island of Lost Maps: A True Story of Cartographic Crime Shares nonfiction, history, maps -
Map of a Nation: A Biography of the Ordnance Survey Shares nonfiction, history, maps
“People who read On the Map: A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks tend to reach for these next.”
“If you want more of the same (history), start with these.”
“If it was the geography that hooked you, try one of these.”
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The Fourth Part of the World: The Race to the Ends of the Earth, and the Epic Story of the Map That Gave America Its Name
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Lost States: True Stories of Texlahoma, Transylvania, and Other States That Never Made It
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Atlas of Lost Cities: A Travel Guide to Abandoned and Forsaken Destinations
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The Phantom Atlas: The Greatest Myths, Lies and Blunders on Maps
