The Mapmakers

(Paperback)

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An updated edition of the classic history of cartography, this work 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. This edition includes three new chapters, as well as many updates and amplifications, to reflect the great changes that have taken places in mapmaking in the past two decades.

Reviews

'A winning chronicle of mapmakers over time and space... Wilford has combined the accounts to offer a variety of adventures and perceptions not so often well described.' Scientific American 'Fascinating... Wilford manages to make everything from the discovery of the longitude to advanced laser-beam technology clear.' Newsweek 'One begins to sense how very much of what we know about the makeup of our planet has come to light just the other day as history goes... Wilford has produced a brisk intelligent history.' New York Times Book Review

Author Bio

John Noble Wilford is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning science correspondent for the New York Times. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1998. He has worked for the Wall Street Journal, Time magazine, and, since 1965, the New York Times. He lives in Manhattan and Bellport, Long Island.