On The Map by Simon Garfield
Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 12:29 am
On The Map is published by Profile Books, ISBN 978 1 8466 8509 5
I have always enjoyed maps, ever since I was a very young child, and would spend hours poring over them, absorbing every detail. So a book like this, all about the origin and nature of maps, would be bound to appeal. And it was very enjoyable to read, even if the section on computer game maps became a bit silly compared to the rest. The illustrations could have been better with better printing and better paper, and it would have been nice for the map examples to be in colour.
My only reservation is that the book as a whole was too much like "popular science", intended for a relatively undemanding audience. It could have usefully been a bit more serious and a bit less "gee, whiz, wow!" in its style.
So in summary, a rating of just:
I have always enjoyed maps, ever since I was a very young child, and would spend hours poring over them, absorbing every detail. So a book like this, all about the origin and nature of maps, would be bound to appeal. And it was very enjoyable to read, even if the section on computer game maps became a bit silly compared to the rest. The illustrations could have been better with better printing and better paper, and it would have been nice for the map examples to be in colour.
My only reservation is that the book as a whole was too much like "popular science", intended for a relatively undemanding audience. It could have usefully been a bit more serious and a bit less "gee, whiz, wow!" in its style.
So in summary, a rating of just: