Before I fully submerge myself in the world of cartography, I need to be well informed and educated. I hope to do this by reading a book to open my eyes to different parts of map-making. This week, I will be researching a few different books and ranking them based on which ones I think will be most meaningful to read. Furthermore, I will be reading the book that I deem most important and posting updates every few weeks. After countless hours of research, I have chosen three books that I think would be most beneficial for me to read. Let the ranking begin! #3: How to Lie with Maps by Mark Monmonier After reading several reviews of this book, I feel that it would be a great read that delivers both education and interesting content. In this book, Mark Monmonier explains how all maps lie and you can never truly trust a map. Additionally, it explains the map-making process to give the reader a better sense of why maps lie. Maps tell stories, but that does not mean that all of the stories have to be true. When you consider the fact that maps have to be converted from 3D to 2D and compacted into smaller scales, it is understandable why they do have to lie. This book explores these topics and more and surely would give me an adequate amount of information. However, this book is not number one on my list for a couple of reasons. First, Monmonier originally published this book in 1991. He proceeded to publish a 2nd edition in 1996 and a 3rd edition in 2018. Despite the newer editions, this book is said to be exceedingly out-dated. Thus, the information in this book isn't exactly what I am looking for. Many of the reviews also said that the book can be fairly boring and uninteresting in some spots. I am looking for a book that will hook me from the get-go, and unfortunately, this is not the book for me. #2: Rethinking the Power of Maps by Denis Wood Rethinking the Power of Maps is described as a revolutionary book that opened the eyes of many cartographers to what maps truly are and what the future of maps will hold. Moreover, as you may recall, Denis Wood was featured in the Mapping podcast from last week's post. Once I listened to Wood talking about his maps, I became interested in his work, so I think that this book would be a good fit for me. In this book, Wood discusses several topics involving mapping. Pictures are frequently used as a supplement to the text, and all-in-all, it is filled with useful information. This book came in a very close second to my first place winner. However, the other one just seemed to interest more. In the reviews I read, this book was said to be better for people with more experience with cartography, and as a beginner, I think that I might need to stay away from this book for some time. Nevertheless, this book looks like a great read that I definitely will get around to in the future. #1: All Over the Map: A Cartographic Odyssey by Betsy Mason and Greg Miller And, the number one book that I will be reading is, All Over the Map: A Cartographic Odyssey by Betsy Mason and Greg Miller. When I first heard about this book, it immediately jumped out at me. It is just what I need. In this book, Mason and Miller describe the history of hundreds of maps. It explains how each map has a specific story and purpose that may not meet the eye. Also, many different lessons about maps are taught over the course of the book. It is almost a hybrid between the two previous books that I mentioned. Misleading maps are discussed along with how maps tell stories and prompt discoveries. I can't wait to read this book and tell you guys all about what I have learned.
As I said earlier, I had a difficult decision between this book and Rethinking the Power of Maps, but I think what pushed me over the edge was the fact that this book is similar to a story yet informational as well. You could argue that the other two books do this as well, but after reading about this book, I think All Over the Map: A Cartographic Odyssey does an exceptional job at it. That is why it is my winner. So, as I mentioned earlier, I will be posting about what I have read every few weeks.
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