Dimensions
153 x 234 x 38mm
From Antiquity to the Space Age.
An updated edition of the classic, much praised history of cartography. The book traces the adventures, discoveries, and feats of technical ingenuity by which mapmakers, over the centuries, have succeeded in charting first the surface of the globe, then the earth's interior and the ocean floors, and finally the moon and the planets of our solar system.
John Noble Wilford chronicles the exploits of the great pioneers in mapmaking: the remarkably sophisticated silk maps of ancient China; the work of medieval cartographers who, relying on the stories of pilgrims and travellers, depicted imaginary realms and the fearsome monsters said to inhabit them; the contributions of Columbus, Magellan and Cook (whose precise charting of the Pacific set the standard for years to come); the legacy of the extraordinary Cassini family of France, who, over four generations, completed the first topographic survey of an entire country; and the modern day achievements of those who have set out to explore still unknown realms: Antarctica, the mountains of the sea, the Moon, Mars and Venus.
Wilford tells the dramatic story of how, through the ages, technology - compasses, sextants, theodolites, cameras, aeroplanes, radar, sonar, computers, seismic probes, lasers, satellites - has transformed the way we see and measure our world. He details the innovations, from John Harrison's eighteenth-century marine chronometer, which enabled navigators to calculate longitude at sea, to the pentagon's Global Positioning System (GPS), now used as widely by civilians as by the military to pinpoint the bearer's exact location on the globe.
With three new chapters, more maps and illustrations, and many revisions and amplifications, this edition reflects the great changes that have taken place in mapmaking in the past two decades. Wilford shows how these advances have made possible a precision and range in mapping never before imagined, and how they have led to new and vital applications: locating mineral, energy and freshwater resources; identifying pollution and other environmental hazards; uncovering precious archaeological treasure; and plotting the terrain of our neighbouring planets.
A fascinating account of man's inventiveness and limitless curiosity, 'The Mapmakers' is the definitive book on our continuing quest to chart the vast unknown.
