How to Lie with Maps - Hardcover

Monmonier, Mark

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0226534200 ISBN 13: 9780226534206

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 1996

Synopsis

Originally published to wide acclaim, this 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. The second edition is updated with the addition of two new chapters, 10 color plates, and a new foreword by renowned geographer H. J. de Blij. One new chapter examines the role of national interest and cultural values in national mapping organizations, including the United States Geological Survey, while the other explores the new breed of multimedia, computer-based maps. 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.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

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. As Monmonier show, maps not only point the way and provide information, maps lie. In fact, they must.

About the Author:

Mark Monmonier is Distinguished Professor of Geography at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. He is the author of more than twenty books and the editor of volume 6 of the History of Cartography series, published by the University of Chicago Press.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0226534200
• ISBN 13: 9780226534206
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 228