Cartography provides marvellous waypoints for changes in different cultures through history, both scientifically and artistically. It can also be an expression of political struggle and aspiration. Some maps have been weapons. Anyone who doubts this need only trace the bitter history of the Balkans. Some of the maps in this book had devastating consequences, such as the 1885 map of Africa that carved up the continent among the European colonial powers. Some maps are simply beautiful, such as the `Dream Time' maps of the Australian Aborigines or the brilliantly engraved Dutch maps of the 16th century. Others are scientifically outstanding for various reasons, like William Smith's geological map of England and Wales, the work of one man that profoundly changed our understanding of geological forces and at the same time revolutionised the science of paleontology. The maps considered here include pure works of the imagination, like the maps of Middle-Earth in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, surely the most mapped non-existent place ever. Some are sinister, even disturbing: consider the Nazi `Utopian' city plan. What all the maps have is their own fascinating story. The cartographic achievement of Lewis and Clark in mapping the American West is one of the great adventures, as is the British mapping of all India - which took 60 years. While approachable as a series of extraordinary short stories, these maps are organized to explain the chronological development of cartography and to reveal the scientific and sometimes political background.
Cartography is both a science and an art; as such, it provides marvelous waypoints for changes in different cultures through history. But it can also be a weapon, or at least a potentially destructive undertaking. Anyone who doubts this need only trace the bitter history of the Balkans or of the entire continent of Africa back to what may have seemed some rational and innocuous boundaries sketched on paper. Some of the maps in this book had devastating consequences, such as the 1885 map of Africa that carved up the continent among the European colonial powers. Other maps are simply beautiful, such as the dot painting "Dreamtime" map of the Australian Aborigines or the Jainist cosmographical chart of the 15th century. Others are mysterious, like the rock maps of Siberia, or scientifically outstanding for various reasons, like Captain Cook's map of New Zealand or Landsat mapping from space. Some are fun, like the map of Middle Earth in Lord of the Rings, the most printed map of a non-existent place ever! What all the maps chosen have is their own fascinating story: not just the escape maps and military maps.
The cartographic achievement of Lewis and Clark in mapping the West is one of the great adventures, as is the British mapping of all India - which took 60 years. While approachable as a series of amazing short stories, the maps are organized to explain the development of cartography and illuminate the historical, scientific, and sometimes political background.
