Summer Reading
Are you looking for some good books this summer? Let us make some suggestions…
Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks – Ken Jennings takes readers on a world tour of geogeeks from the London Map Fair to the bowels of the Library of Congress, from the prepubescent geniuses at the National Geographic Bee to the computer programmers at Google Earth. Each chapter delves into a different aspect of map culture: highpointing, geocaching, road atlas rallying, even the “unreal estate” charted on the maps of fiction and fantasy. Jennings also considers the ways in which cartography has shaped our history, suggesting that the impulse to make and read maps is as relevant today as it has ever been.
The Mapmakers: The Story of the Great Pioneers in Cartography (From Antiquity to the Space Age) – It is of interest to anyone who has ever paddled along a complex shoreline, looked at a map, and thought ” I could be here, there or anywhere”. Or to anyone who has spent a winter dreaming of a lake or river, seen only in the mind’s eye aided by a “window” created by maps…This book covers the history of cartography or map-making from ancient times to the present day . Drawing on various sources, it explores the “need” to create maps both as a concrete form of communication describing the physical location of objects and our relationship to them, as well as the philosophical beliefs which can make “maps lie” based on the ideological bias of the map-maker, and the prejudices of the user. I The author develops his concepts within the book like small streams joining to form a great river, over a great distance and time. Certainly anyone who has ever had someone “draw them a map” when words and language were insufficient , might be intrigued by both the history and ideas contained in this book!
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time  – This is a beautifully told true story of astronomy, navigation, clockmaking, history, and geography, mixed with intrigue, greed, and ambition. The active quest for a solution to the problem of longitude persisted over four centuries and across all of Europe. Lacking the ability to determine their longitude, sailors were literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. Ships ran aground on rocky shores; those traveling well-known routes were pray for pirates. In 1714 England’s Parliament offered a huge reward to anyone whose method of measuring longitude could be proven successful. The scientific establishment had spent centuries confidently mapping the heavens for a celestial answer. John Harrison, a self-taught Yorkshire clockmaker, dared to imagine a mechanical solution – a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had been able to do on land.
Where the Libraries Are

We’re going SUPERSIZED for Summer! That means, we’re cutting back on the frequency of our posts, but each SUPERSIZED post has TWICE the content. Enjoy & have a great summer!