By Aileen Buckley, Mapping Center Lead
On October 18, 2011, Esri Press announced the release of the seventh edition of Map Use: Reading, Analysis, Interpretation, a standard reference for GIS students and professionals since 1978. This full-color textbook provides readers with the knowledge to effectively interpret modern cartography.
A. Jon Kimerling, Aileen R. Buckley, Phillip C. Muehrcke, and Juliana O. Muehrcke authored this edition of the book. In part one, “Map Reading,” they discuss the geographic data underlying a map and the importance of map accuracy. Part two, “Map Analysis,” describes how to analyze spatial structures and relationships in the mapped environment. In the newly added part three, “Map Interpretation,” they place emphasis on understanding environmental maps throughout four chapters:
- Interpreting the Lithosphere
- Interpreting the Atmosphere and Biosphere
- Interpreting the Human Landscape
- Maps and Reality
“The map interpreter’s challenge is to search out those underlying meanings, to piece together the fragments of mapped information and come up with a picture of vibrant, ever-changing reality,” state the authors. “Once you meet that challenge and discover the rewards of interpretation, you will look at maps in a new way, picking out intriguing patterns and asking yourself, Why?”
“I’ve been a fan of Map Use since my first undergraduate cartography course at the University of Wisconsin in 1984,” says David DiBiase, Esri director of education for industry solutions. “The book is one of the top 10 indispensable geospatial texts I recommend to students and colleagues. This new edition only strengthens its key position in geospatial literature.”
In this edition, the four interpretations chapters that were in the fifth edition are back. To help explain the significance of these chapters, here are some excerpts from the proposal that primary author, Dr. Phil Muehrcke, wrote in support of this edition of the book:
“These chapters explain how maps create a visual/conceptual narrative – a path to discovery – that dramatically illustrates maps can be transcended from eye-catching decor/wallpaper to springboards for the imagination, trigger devices to set you questioning and inspire you to search for answers. Map interpretation is a skill that comes with practice. To help you develop the techniques you need, a wide variety of examples of map interpretation have been brought together in this book. The examples of map interpretation in these chapters are by no means exhaustive. They merely represent a selection of types of interpretative situations and problems you may encounter. As you go through them, you’ll notice that there are a few basic methods that are used repeatedly.
“Interpretation is open-ended. Comprehension is never complete. Each new experience you have, in every facet of life, will give you new understanding and allow you to extract new meaning. If you have ever reread a book years later, you found that you gained different insights from it than you did the first time, because you had grown. So it is with a map. The more you bring to it, the more you will gain from it.
“Of all the aspects of map use, interpretation requires the most from the map user. You must give all of yourself. Every subject you have studied, every experience you have ever had, every thought process you have mastered, contributes to your interpretation of a map. Interpretation is the most demanding of all map use endeavors.
“It is also the most exciting. You can spend hours lost in an interesting map, just as you can in a good book. Everyone loves a mystery, they say, and maps can be as enthralling as any detective story. In both cases unrestrained curiosity can pay big dividends.”
In this edition of Map Use: Reading, Analysis, Interpretation, Seventh Edition, you are guided through many examples of map interpretation, after which you’ll look at all maps in a new way. You’ll be inspired, using your new knowledge, to search out the answers to the broader and deeper questions you’ll begin to ask of maps. It might actually change your life!
A related DVD is available by request to college faculty and instructors from the Esri Press website. The DVD includes PowerPoint slides, exercises, and answer keys for all 22 chapters.
Map Use: Reading, Analysis, Interpretation, Seventh Edition (ISBN: 978-1-58948-279-1, 610 pages, US$99.95), is available at online retailers worldwide, at esri.com/esripress, or by calling 1-800-447-9778. Outside the United States, visit esri.com/esripressorders for complete ordering options, or visit esri.com/distributors to contact your local Esri distributor. Interested retailers can contact Esri Press book distributor Ingram Publisher Services.
About Esri Press
Esri Press publishes books on GIS, cartography, and related topics. The complete selection of GIS titles from Esri Press can be found on the web at esri.com/esripress.
Press Information:
Jim Baumann, Esri
Tel.: 909-793-2853, extension 1-1807
E-mail (press only): press@esri.com
General Information: info@esri.com
