Mapmatics: A Mathematician's Guide to Navigating the World - Hardcover

Rowińska, Freelance Writer Paulina

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674294238 ISBN 13: 9780674294233

Publisher: Belknap Press, 2024

Synopsis

"I love maps. I love math. And gosh, do I love this book, which so beautifully and clearly sounds the depths of both." --Ben Orlin, author of Math with Bad Drawings

Explore the surprising connections between math and maps--and the myriad ways they've shaped our world and us.

Why are coastlines and borders so difficult to measure? How does a UPS driver deliver hundreds of packages in a single day? And where do elusive serial killers hide? The answers lie in the crucial connection between maps and math.

In Mapmatics, mathematician Paulina Rowińska leads us on a riveting journey around the globe to discover how maps and math are deeply entwined, and always have been. From a sixteenth-century map, an indispensable navigation tool that exaggerates the size of northern countries, to public transport maps that both guide and confound passengers, to congressional maps that can empower or silence whole communities, she reveals how maps and math have shaped not only our sense of space but our worldview. In her hands, we learn how to read maps like a mathematician--to extract richer information and, just as importantly, to question our conclusions by asking what we don't see.

Written with authority and compassion, wit and unforgettable storytelling, this is math exposition at its best. By unpacking the math behind the maps we depend on, Mapmatics illuminates how our world works and, ultimately, how we can better look after it.

About this title

About the Author

Paulina Rowińska is an award-winning science writer and journalist who has written for Smithsonian magazine, Undark, WGBH, and other outlets. She holds a PhD in mathematics from Imperial College London.

Edition details

• Publisher: Belknap Press
• Publication date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674294238
• ISBN 13: 9780674294233
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304