Cartographies of Travel and Navigation

by James R. Akerman (Editor)

Finding one’s way with a map is a relatively recent phenomenon. In premodern times, maps were used, if at all, mainly for planning journeys in advance, not for guiding travelers on the road. With the exception of navigational sea charts, the use of maps by travelers only became common in the modern era; indeed, in the last two hundred years, maps have become the most ubiquitous and familiar genre of modern cartography.

Examining the historical relationship between travelers, navigation, and maps, Cartographies of Travel and Navigation considers the cartographic response to the new modalities of modern travel brought about by technological and institutional developments in the twentieth century. Highlighting the ways in which the travelers, operators, and planners of modern transportation systems value maps as both navigation tools and as representatives of a radical new mobility, this collection brings the cartography of travel—by road, sea, rail, and air—to the forefront, placing maps at the center of the history of travel and movement.

Richly and colorfully illustrated, Cartographies of Travel and Navigation ably fills the void in historical literature on transportation mapping.

344 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2006

Reviews

[Spencer Scoresby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cartographers have always strived to successfully orient the traveler on their route and to provide sufficient context of the area they traverse. From medieval times to the dawn of aviation, modes of transportation have gotten faster and cover a wider range. With each new way to travel came a new cartography in which mapmakers had to consider the most appropriate map scale, what land features to include and exclude, and how the consumer intended to use it.

The section about sea routes, shipping, and how mariners navigated the ocean amazed me. Before they figured out how to calculate longitude, they used a technique known as “dead reckoning” - this is essentially an estimate of one’s location based on a ship’s last known position, speed, direction, and time traveled. The fact that sailors would send it to distant lands, trusting in the dead reckoning of their captains to get them to wherever they were going is just so cool. Dead reckoning wasn’t limited to the sea or the past - it has played a part in navigation of all kinds and it was a theme throughout the book.

I learned that roadmaps sprouted from the popularity of bicycling and the need for reliable info to route plan. This led to the idiomatic design of American highway maps. The design of these network roadmaps have remained largely unchanged since the 1920s. It was the hours I spent with the road atlas on roadtrips where I fell in love with maps.

The only things I didn’t like about the book was the section on medieval transportation and route itineraries, it was dense and boring. Also, the book is a little out of date - the newest travel cartography when the book was published was in-car navigation systems. It made me laugh with how widespread smartphones and their navigation capabilities have become.