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Theater of the world : the maps that made history / by Thomas Reinertsen Berg ; translated from the Norwegian by Alison McCullough.

by Reinertsen Berg, Thomas, 1971- author.

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New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2018.

Cartography -- History.

9780316450768 (hardcover) :

0316450766 (hardcover)

xv, 367 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), color maps ; 24 cm

First North American edition.

The first images of the world : prehistoric maps, stories of creation, and Sumerian, Babylonian and Egyptian maps -- Like frogs about a pond : Ptolemy, one of the greatest geographers of his time, and the Greeks' increasing knowledge of the world throughout antiquity -- Holy geography : a world made for humans by God, in which the clerics and cartographers of the Middle Ages depict the holy story of creation -- The first atlas : Abraham Ortelius and Gerardus Mercator map the world's expansion as a result of the Europeans' numerous voyages and the Renaissance thirst for knowledge -- Venturing out : a Norwegian map on the move, Dutch nautical charts, the battle for the biggest atlas, and more about Mercator and all he never managed to complete -- The great surveys : France, Denmark and Norway learn to survey large areas, Kongsvinger gets a prime meridian in 1779, and maps play a role in central government administration -- White spaces in the North : the second Fram expedition sets out in 1898, in the wake of the many others that had previously tried to map the northern regions -- As seen from above : the First World War paves the way for aerial surveys, which in turn pave the way for a Norwegian economic map series and the appearance of maps in most areas of society -- Blue planet : about the seven tenths of our planet that are covered by water, and Marie Tharp's attempts to understand what the ocean floor looks like, and why -- The digital world : satellites and computers provide and manage vast amounts of information, and give us maps that are able to speak to us.

"What is a map? How have people been drawing the world throughout history? What do maps say about us? In [this book], Thomas Reinertsen Berg takes us from the mysterious symbols of the Stone Age to Google Earth, exploring how the ability to envision what the world looks like developed hand in hand with worldwide exploration. This fascinating tale of science and strategy, art and technology, power and ambition, practical needs and distant dreams of the unknown, tells a new story about world history and the people who made it. We encounter visionary geographers and heroic explorers along with the unknown heroes of the mapmaking world, both ancient and modern. Theater of the World is above all a celebration of the extraordinary men and women mapmakers whose work has made history."--Dust jacket.

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