[Paddlewise] Book Review: The Mapmakers

"The Mapmakers"  by John Noble Wilford (ISBN 0-375-40929-7)  published by
Knopf/Random House in August 2000  is an updated version of the 1981 text.
The revisions reflect  the radical changes in the process of
map-making that we already take for granted. It is of interest to anyone
who has ever paddled along a complex shoreline, looked at a map, and thought
" I could be here, there or  anywhere". Or to  anyone who has spent a winter
dreaming of a lake or river, seen only in the mind's eye aided by  a
"window" created by  maps...

This book covers the history of cartography or map-making from ancient times
to the present day . Drawing on various sources,  it explores the "need" to
create
maps both as a concrete form of communication describing the physical
location of objects and our relationship to them, as well as the
philosophical  beliefs  which  can  make "maps lie"  based on the
ideological bias of the map-maker, and the prejudices of the user. It traces
in chronological format the evolution of maps (beginning in pre-history
judging from some cave paintings) , from the Near East and Egypt in the
period from 2000BC,  to Greek philosophical conceptions of the world,  to
the civil engineering and  mapping of the Romans, to the laughably
inaccurate and fabricated  maps of the early Middle Ages reflecting
Europe's inward turning in the pre-Renaissance period.  The Age of Discovery
and the slow progress in developing maps for coastal trade reaching further
and further from home, the new ( and rediscovered) technologies that aided
the "mapping of both the African route to Asia, as well as the nascent
understanding of the New World coastline, are covered in great detail.

Time is given to the development of map projections, problems of determining
latitude and longitude, early and modern navigational devices, as well as
the individuals who pioneered new concepts in mapping, often with  their
achievements  lying fallow  for another 100 years or more. Problems of
mapping even  long settled areas like France are discussed in the context of
new systems of measuring land, as well as the State's "need" to quantify
it's holdings in a more scientific  manner.

The  author develops  his concepts within the book like small streams
joining  to form a  great river, over  a great distance and time. The final
third of the book  is a torrent , as the various technologies are refined,
demand  for accurate maps increases, and communication becomes  almost
instant. In the  discussion of  the modern era  there is a  already a
quaintness to the debates as to whether map making might  ever be
"automated", or derived from computerized data alone. In the final chapters
the book moves beyond the mapping of coast lines, cities and Earth itself,
to mapping projects of Mars and the Universe itself. Yet the author retains
his premise that maps  locate the human mind in space and time, and are as
essential to humans as language itself.  An interesting premise early in the
book is that the creation of   maps may have  pre-dated  the complexities
of  language. Certainly anyone who has ever had  someone "draw them a map"
when words and language were  insufficient , might be intrigued by both the
history and ideas contained in this book!

Rich Dempsey
ridem_at_msn.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
See our canoe tripping website
http://communities.msn.com/RichWendysAwayFromHomePage




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