Maps and Man: An Examination of Cartography in Relation to Culture and Civilization

by Norman J.W. Thrower

MAPS AND MAN chronicles the history of the map as an expression of man's scientific and cultural evolution. Beginning with the maps of primitives, the author traces chronological development of cartography and its interplay with history through antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and 19th century diversification to its most contemporary directions. He surveys Americans as well as European, and private as well as public mapping, and takes a special look at the contributions of early Oriental cartography.

Genres: History, Cartography, Science, Nonfiction, Travel, Society, Geography

Paperback

First published April 1, 1972

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dry. Worthy, but dry. Probably by cartographer's standards this is laugh-a-minute stuff, I don't know.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love maps but a book about maps just seems like it would be excruciatingly dull. However I think Norman Thrower actually did a great job of making the subject of cartography quite accessible. He avoided the twin pitfalls of dwelling on any one technical topic or becoming immersed in trade specific details. The book had a nice mixture of history and science and while it would have been nice to see color versions of the maps it had a plentiful collection interspersed through the whole work. If you like maps this is a must--would give it 3.5 stars if I could.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

An exceedingly dry and exhaustively comprehensive (if short) overview of the history of cartography, up through the later half of the 20th century (with some updates for 21st). There's a lot of joy to be found in the appendices and endnotes, in contrast to the density of the main text.

Tightly focused on maps and cartography and not really on civilization or culture to the degree the title and publisher's description implies, which I found personally disappointing but isn't really a criticism of the book-as-written; the lengthy bibliography offers a wealth of jumping-off points.

[Kirby McDonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid history of mapping, but definitely written by an old fart trying to not come across as an old fart.

[Zahavah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love it when authors manage to write an academic book in a way that is engaging, readable, and not dry.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a time when three stars means "this was really good."

Dry, yes- but not insanely boring; I definitely learned some new things and thought it was very well-written. I think if I was bananas over cartography I'd give it five stars.

[Celadevra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abandoned at about 70% of the main part, 18% of the whole text due to the extremely long back matter. Impressively researched but left me wondering what's the point.