A “Must Read” Book For The Map Enthusiast

I’ve got a book that needs to be on the reading list of every map enthusiast. The book is entitled “The Mapmakers”. It talks about the men and woman who had an important or pivotal role in map making throughout history. The book is well written and entertaining. I’ve already learned about Chinese mapmaking, the influence of mythology and religion on medieval map making, the first street map (made by the Roman Caesar), and about Eratosthenes, the Greek librarian that measured the Earth. My favorite chapters are about the design of John Harrison’s clock, which allowed mariners to measure longitude, and James Cook, who revolutionized the mapping of coastlines.

Here is the Amazon Books web page for “The Mapmakers”:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375409297/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=

You can view the table of contents for the book there.

The Sunburned Surveyor