Reviewed by Paul Meartz

Just from the title, the text's goal of showing young people how maps have varied and changed over time is established. The goal is admirably achieved with a narrative and accompanying maps that clearly show the nature of maps from early civilizations to postmodern times.

The journey through time and change begins with the classic Babylonian world map from approximately 500 B.C. This small rock with carved circular world and text sets the stage for developing a sense of change. It is rock. It is fully a product of the culture of its makers, leaving mystery to viewers from other places, times, and cultures. This is followed by examination of an Egyptian scroll from 330 B.C. and the famous maps of the Marshall Islanders. These samples establish the nature of maps as tools to assist people in their lives.

The next units review the maps of the Greeks through the Middle Ages. La Pierre significantly points to the sense of imagination behind the maps of the Middle Ages. The T and O maps represent reality as perceived and understood by their cartographers, but are fully placed within the larger vision of how it all fit together. The world of the map is more than the mundane known world, but also is of the world as metaphysically structured.

The book does not solely focus on the maps of Western Civilization. Chinese, Japanese, and Arab maps illustrate the long history of exploration and cartography. They, of course, provide alternative cultural views of what a map looks like and some insight into the status of other cultures.

The next chapters take the reader through the Age of Discovery and the resultant changes in western mapping. Included are numerous examples of world and American maps of the expanding globe. An inset on projections in the midst of this section points out the problems faced by cartographers as they dealt with the discoveries. The Mercator, Gall-Peters, Sinusoidal, Mollweide, Goodes Homolosine, and azimuthal-equidistant projections are shown. Very useful for learning purposes is that small globes, demonstrating the proper sizes and shapes of continents, surround each of the projections. It would seem very beneficial to less sophisticated readers, who might not have fully accurate and complete mental maps of the world, to be able to quickly compare the distortion on the projections to the real world.

The last stretch of the book turns to changes in maps and mapping over this century. For example, the changes in Central and Eastern Europe are used to illustrate how our organization of space varies. The final chapter takes the progress of mapping into the Space and Computer Ages.

I recommend that you obtain a copy of this book for your classroom or library. The positive features of the book are the colorful maps that are well presented with a clear and concise text. The topics covered are well thought out and significant. A middle school-junior high audience could make good use of this text. The book could certainly be a good text for any one starting to explore the world of maps in high school or in university programs in elementary and secondary education.

The only suggestions I would make for improvement, both certainly subjects of equally valid editorial choice, would be to add a Robinson projection to the projection insert and the lack of mention of geographic information systems (GIS). The Robinson projection is the choice of the National Geographic Society for world maps. It has a good chance of being present in many classrooms. GIS is the new edge of map and geographic information handling activity. Some high schools in the United States and Canada do have GIS activities for their students. Hope, North Dakota is a regional example. Again, both of these are arguable.

This also is a locally written book. La Pierre is from Grand Forks. She is a former associate editor of National Parks magazine. Her earlier book Native American Rock Art: Messages from the Past, also deserves a place on your classroom and library shelf--certainly in the hands of your students.

[Citation: La Pierre, Yvette. 1996, 1995. Mapping a Changing World. New York: Thomasson-Grant & Lickle]