Mappings
Cosgrove (human geography, Univ. of London) asked 11 prominent international scholars to write essays "in the light of revisioned conceptions of mapping." These new conceptions are not succinctly stated, but they appear to share the expanded definition used in the University of Chicago's "History of Cartography" series: "graphic representations that facilitate a spa[t]ial understanding of things, concepts, conditions, processes, or events in the human world." The approach is entirely Eurocentric. Topics range from mapping in ancient Alexandria and space-time representation in Medieval "mappaemundi" to "Mapping and the Expanded Field of Contemporary Art." The underlying theme is that in order to enhance human understanding, maps can, and indeed should, be more than mere geometric representations. As Alessandro Scafi notes, European maps since the Renaissance "could no longer claim to constitute a comprehensive space-time image of the cosmos, but only to mirror the surface of the earth at a moment in time." Recommended for academic and larger public libraries with cartographical collections.AEdward K. Werner, St. Lucie Cty. Lib. Syst., Ft. Pierce, FLCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.