These Are the Books You Must Read About Maps

Editor's note: This is a work in progress! Please help us out by adding your recommendations and opinions about the books on the list in the comments.

As we try to learn more about maps and how to make maps here at Map Lab, we've been sifting through the seemingly endless list of books related to maps. Atlases, textbooks, history... too many of them look tempting, and we could never get to them all. So, we turned to our Twitter followers for help.

And now we are asking our readers for more help. This is just the beginning of a list of "must-read" map books that we hope will be a good resource for us and you. We need your help adding more recommendations to it, and evaluating what should (and shouldn't) be on the list. So add your favorite map books in the comments (a brief reason for why we should include it will help), and let us know how you feel about the ones already on the list (good or bad) and about suggestions in the comments.

So far the list is divided into very rough categories (let us know if we have misplaced one), and are in no particular order within the categories. One category that is empty so far is fiction -- maybe it doesn't belong? Have we forgotten other categories? Did we miscategorize something?

Thanks for the help!

The Power of Maps
by Denis Wood

Recommended by: Sam Hind (@samhind10) "Exquisite!"

From the publisher:

"This volume ventures into terrain where even the most sophisticated map fails to lead--through the mapmaker's bias. Denis Wood shows how maps are not impartial reference objects, but rather instruments of communication, persuasion, and power. Like paintings, they express a point of view. By connecting us to a reality that could not exist in the absence of maps--a world of property lines and voting rights, taxation districts and enterprise zones--they embody and project the interests of their creators. Sampling the scope of maps available today, illustrations include Peter Gould's AIDS map, Tom Van Sant's map of the earth, U.S. Geological Survey maps, and a child's drawing of the world. THE POWER OF MAPS was published in conjunction with an exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt Museum, the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Design."

How to Lie with Maps
by Mark Monmonier (with foreward by H.J. de Blij)

Recommended by: Steven Romalewski (@SR_spatial) "Anything and everything by Mark Monmonier. Clear, concise, insightful writing on cartography, GIS, & everything inbetween," and Arzu Coltekin (@acolt)

From the publisher:

"Originally published to wide acclaim, this lively, cleverly illustrated essay on the use and abuse of maps teaches us how to evaluate maps critically and promotes a healthy skepticism about these easy-to-manipulate models of reality. Monmonier shows that, despite their immense value, maps lie. In fact, they must. To show how maps distort, Monmonier introduces basic principles of mapmaking, gives entertaining examples of the misuse of maps in situations from zoning disputes to census reports, and covers all the typical kinds of distortions from deliberate oversimplifications to the misleading use of color."

NEW: You Are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination
by Katherine Harmon

Recommended by: Jonny Miller (@jonnym1ller)

From the publisher:

"These are charts of places you're not expected to find, but a voyage you take in your mind: an exploration of the ideal country estate from a dog's perspective; a guide to buried treasure on Skeleton Island; a trip down the road to success; or the world as imagined by an inmate of a mental institution. With over 100 maps from artists, cartographers, and explorers, You are Here gives the reader a breath-taking view of worlds, both real and imaginary."

Rethinking Maps: New Frontiers in Cartographic Theory
by Martin Dodge, Rob Kitchin and Chris Perkins

Recommended by: Sam Hind (@samhind10)

From the publisher:

"Maps are changing. They have become important and fashionable once more. Rethinking Maps brings together leading researchers to explore how maps are being rethought, made and used, and what these changes mean for working cartographers, applied mapping research, and cartographic scholarship. It offers a contemporary assessment of the diverse forms that mapping now takes and, drawing upon a number of theoretic perspectives and disciplines, provides an insightful commentary on new ontological and epistemological thinking with respect to cartography."

How Maps Work: Representation, Visualization, and Design
by Alan MacEachren (@alanGeoVISTA)

Recommended by: Arzu Coltekin (@acolt), and Anthony Robinson (@MapRevolution)

Here's what the author says about the book on his website:

"Building from a background in cartography and spatial cognition, my work during the 1990s focused on a range of issues associated with geographic representation and geovisualization. Within these domains, a long standing interest was the interaction between formalized visual and digital representations inherent in maps and geographic information systems and human mental representation of space and space-time. In How Maps Work: Representation, Visualization and Design I develop a cognitive-semiotic theoretical perspective from which to address these and related issues. Much of my work in this domain deals with dynamic forms of representation. These include exploratory spatial data analysis tools and map animation for understanding geographic processes. Much of this research has been linked to applications of mapping, geovisualization and ESDA in public health."

Making Maps: DIY Cartography
by John Krygier and Denis Wood

Recommended by: Matthew Kenny (@mattmakesmaps) "So much valuable design advice."

From the publisher:

"Acclaimed for its innovative use of visual material, this book is engaging, clear, and compelling—exactly how an effective map should be. Nearly every page is organized around maps and other figures (many in full color) that illustrate all aspects of map making, including instructive examples of both good and poor design choices. The book covers everything from locating and processing data to making decisions about layout, symbols, color, and type. Readers are invited to think critically about both the technical features and social significance of maps as they learn to create better maps of their own."

__NEW: Semiology of Graphics: Diagrams, Networks, Maps __
by Jacques Bertin

Recommended by: Eric Wolf (@ebwolf) and Victor Olaya (@volayaf)

From the publisher:

"Originally published in French in 1967, Semiology of Graphics is internationally recognized as a foundational work in the fields of design and cartography. Based on Jacques Bertin’s practical experience as a cartographer, part one of this work is an unprecedented attempt to synthesize principles of graphic communication with the logic of standard rules applied to writing and topography. Part two brings Bertin’s theory to life, presenting a close study of graphic techniques, including shape, orientation, color, texture, volume, and size, in an array of more than 1,000 maps and diagrams. Now, with a new epilogue written by the author shortly before his death, this new 2010 edition in English reawakens us to the information design possibilities of modern technology."

Atlas of Design
by the North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS)

Recommended by: Nonie Castro (@nonieatvp)

Excerpt
From the publisher:

"The inaugural edition of the Atlas of Design showcases some of the world’s most attractive, creative, and intelligent cartographic art and design. It is a museum gallery: part inspirational and part educational. Beautiful maps are accompanied by thoughtful commentary from their creators, bringing you into a deeper understanding of how great things are made. A year and a half in the making, this 88-page, full-color, library-quality volume features twenty-seven selected works, and is published by the North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS). To learn more about the contents and history of the project, click the banner above to browse through our home page at atlasofdesign.org."

From Here to There
by Hand Drawn Map Association

Recommended by Andy Woodruff (@awoodruff)

From the publisher:

"The situation is as familiar as it is mundane: planning to visit friends in an unfamiliar part of the city, you draw yourself a basic map with detailed directions. In 2008, artist and designer Kris Harzinski founded the Hand Drawn Map Association to collect simple drawings of the everyday. Fascinated by these accidental records of a moment in time, he soon amassed a wide variety of maps, ranging from simple directions to maps of fictional locations, found maps, and maps of unusual places (such as a map of a high school locker), including examples by such well-known luminaries as Abraham Lincoln, Ernest Shackleton, and Alexander Calder. From Here to There celebrates these ephemeral documents—usually forgotten or tossed after having served their purpose—and gives them their due as everyday artifacts. The more than 140 maps featured in this book, including, among many others, maps of an imaginary country for ants, of a traffic island in Australia, of a childhood fort, and of the Anne Frank House in Amseterdam, are as varied and touching as the stories they tell."

Transit Maps of the World
by Mark Ovenden (@markovenden)

Recommended by: Jim Adams (@JimAdams105)

From the publisher:

"Transit Maps of the World is the first and only comprehensive collection of historic and current maps of every rapid-transit system on earth. Using glorious, colorful graphics, Mark Ovenden traces the history of mass transit-including rare and historic maps, diagrams, and photographs, some available for the first time since their original publication. Transit Maps is the graphic designer's new bible, the transport enthusiast's dream collection, and a coffee-table essential for everyone who's ever traveled in a city."

NARRATIVES

Maphead
by Ken Jennings

Recommended by: Michael Green (@JMG_III) "Great funny read and gets really deep into the other common hobbies of map-inclined people."

From the publisher:

"In a world where geography only makes the headlines when college students are (endlessly) discovered to be bad at it, these hardy souls somehow thrive. Some crisscross the map working an endless geographic checklist: visiting all 3,143 U.S. counties, for example, or all 936 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Some pore over million-dollar collections of the rarest maps of the past; others embrace the future by hunting real-world cartographic treasures like "geocaches" or "degree confluences" with GPS device in hand. Some even draw thousands of their own imaginary maps, lovingly detailing worlds that never were. Ken Jennings was a map nerd from a young age himself, you will not be surprised to learn, even sleeping with a bulky Hammond atlas at the side of his pillow, in lieu of the traditional Teddy bear. As he travels the nation meeting others of his tribe--map librarians, publishers, "roadgeeks," pint-sized National Geographic Bee prodigies, the computer geniuses behind Google Maps and other geo-technologies--he comes to admire these geographic obsessives. Now that technology and geographic illiteracy are increasingly insulating us from the lay of the land around us, we are going to be needing these people more than ever. Mapheads are the ones who always know exactly where they are--and where everything else is as well."

HISTORY

NEW: Cartographies of Time: A History of the Timeline
by Daniel Rosenberg and Anthony Grafton

Recommended by: Maria Popova (@brainpicker) chose this as one of her all-time favorite books for the Ideal Bookshelf. Here's what she says about it on her blog: "This lavish collection of illustrated timelines traces the history of graphic representations of time in Europe and the United States from 1450 to the present, featuring everything from medieval manuscripts to websites to a chronological board game developed by Mark Twain."

From the publisher:

"Cartographies of Time is the first comprehensive history of graphic representations of time in Europe and the United States from 1450 to the present. Authors Daniel Rosenberg and Anthony Grafton have crafted a lively history featuring fanciful characters and unexpected twists and turns. From medieval manuscripts to websites, Cartographies of Timefeatures a wide variety of timelines that in their own unique ways--curving, crossing, branching--defy conventional thinking about the form."

NEW: The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology
by Simon Winchester

Recommended by: Florence Bullough (@flo_dem)

From the publisher:

"The Map That Changed the World is, at its foundation, a very human tale of endurance and achievement, of one man’s dedication in the face of ruin and homelessness. The world’s coal and oil industry, its gold mining, its highway systems, and its railroad routes were all derived entirely from the creation of Smith’s first map; and with a keen eye and thoughtful detail, Simon Winchester unfolds the poignant sacrifice behind this world-changing discovery."

____

The Ghost Map
by Steven Johnson

Recommended by: Arzu Coltekin (@acolt)

From the publisher:

"It's the summer of 1854, and London is just emerging as one of the first modern cities in the world. But lacking the infrastructure-garbage removal, clean water, sewers-necessary to support its rapidly expanding population, the city has become the perfect breeding ground for a terrifying disease no one knows how to cure. As the cholera outbreak takes hold, a physician and a local curate are spurred to action-and ultimately solve the most pressing medical riddle of their time. In a triumph of multidisciplinary thinking, Johnson illuminates the intertwined histories of the spread of disease, the rise of cities, and the nature of scientific inquiry, offering both a riveting history and a powerful explanation of how it has shaped the world we live in."

The Mapmakers
by John Noble Wilford

Recommended by: Brett Kelly (@brettkelly) "The Mapmakers is my fav, one of the few books I own that has made it through multiple moves."

Excerpt

From the publisher:

"In his classic text, two-time Pulitzer Prize—winner John Noble Wilford recounts the history of cartography from antiquity to the space age. With this revised edition, Wilford brings the story up to the present day, as he shows the impact of new technologies that make it possible for cartographers to go where no one has been before, from the deepest reaches of the universe (where astronomers are mapping time as well as space) to the inside of the human brain. These modern-day mapmakers join the many earlier adventurers–including ancient Greek stargazers, Renaissance seafarers, and the explorers who mapped the American West–whose exploits shape this dramatic story of human inventiveness and limitless curiosity."

Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time
by Dava Sobel

Recommended by: Coleman McCormick (@colemanm)

The latest edition has a forward by Neil Armstrong.

From the publisher:

"Anyone alive in the eighteeth century would have known that "the longitude problem" was the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day--and had been for centuries. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. Thousands of lives, and the increasing fortunes of nations, hung on a resolution.

The scientific establishment of Europe--from Galileo to Sir Issac Newton--had mapped the heavens in both hemispheres in its certain pursuit of a celestial answer. In stark contrast, one man, John Harrison, dared to imagine a mechanical solution--a clock that would keep percise time at sea, something no clock had ever been able to do on land. Longitude is a dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and Harrison's forty-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer. Full of heroism and chicanery, it is also a fascinating brief history of astronomy, navigation, and clockmaking, and opens a new window on our world."

A History of the World in Twelve Maps
by Jerry Brotton

Recommended by: Anothony Bursae (@bursae)

From the publisher:

"Throughout history, maps have been fundamental in shaping our view of the world, and our place in it. This title tells the story of our world through maps. It examines the significance of 12 maps - from the mystical representations of ancient history to the satellite-derived imagery of today."

FICTION

???

Image: Just some map books lying around my house. (Betsy Mason/WIRED)