Maps at the Library of Congress

Making Connections Between the World's Newest and Oldest Maps

An interview with John Hessler, a cartography expert at the Library of Congress and one of the people behind the new book, Map: Exploring The World.

Mark Byrnes | September 22, 2015

Few people in the world know their way around a map like John Hessler does. The Library of Congress’s “Specialist in Modern Cartography and Geographic Information Science” can look at a Renaissance, bit matrix, or Minecraft map and explain what each signifies and how they all relate.

Source: http://www.amazon.com/Map-Exploring-World-Phaidon-Editors/dp/0714869449/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1443195248&sr=1-1&keywords=map+exploring+the+world

Hessler and a team of contributors have put together a stunning cartographic encyclopedia titled, Map: Exploring The World ($59.95, Phaidon). In it, 300 maps tell the story of 5,000 years of human history, just not in chronological order. Map’s layout draws connections between eras, places, and themes with each turn of the page.

<more at http://www.citylab.com/design/2015/09/making-connections-between-the-worlds-newest-and-oldest-maps/406495/; related links: http://www.esri.com/esri-news/arcnews/winter1314articles/history-of-gis-and-early-computer-cartography-project (History of GIS and Early Computer Cartography Project. By John Hessler, Cartographic Specialist, Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress. Arc News, Winter 2013/2014) and http://currents.plos.org/outbreaks/article/containing-the-ebola-outbreak-the-potential-and-challenge-of-mobile-network-data/ ([Ebola maps.] Commentary: Containing the Ebola Outbreak – the Potential and Challenge of Mobile Network Data. September 29, 2014)>