Wayfinding

Wayfinding

Author: M. R. O'Connor

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Published: 2019-04-30

Total Pages: 367

ISBN-13: 1250096960

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

At once far flung and intimate, a fascinating look at how finding our way make us human. "A marvel of storytelling." —Kirkus (Starred Review) In this compelling narrative, O'Connor seeks out neuroscientists, anthropologists and master navigators to understand how navigation ultimately gave us our humanity. Biologists have been trying to solve the mystery of how organisms have the ability to migrate and orient with such precision—especially since our own adventurous ancestors spread across the world without maps or instruments. O'Connor goes to the Arctic, the Australian bush and the South Pacific to talk to masters of their environment who seek to preserve their traditions at a time when anyone can use a GPS to navigate. O’Connor explores the neurological basis of spatial orientation within the hippocampus. Without it, people inhabit a dream state, becoming amnesiacs incapable of finding their way, recalling the past, or imagining the future. Studies have shown that the more we exercise our cognitive mapping skills, the greater the grey matter and health of our hippocampus. O'Connor talks to scientists studying how atrophy in the hippocampus is associated with afflictions such as impaired memory, dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease, depression and PTSD. Wayfinding is a captivating book that charts how our species' profound capacity for exploration, memory and storytelling results in topophilia, the love of place. "O'Connor talked to just the right people in just the right places, and her narrative is a marvel of storytelling on its own merits, erudite but lightly worn. There are many reasons why people should make efforts to improve their geographical literacy, and O'Connor hits on many in this excellent book—devouring it makes for a good start." —Kirkus Reviews


Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographic Space

Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographic Space

Author: D.M. Mark

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 509

ISBN-13: 9401126062

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book contains twenty-eight papers by participants in the NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) on "Cognitive and Linguistic Aspects of Geographic Space," held in Las Navas del Maxques, Spain, July 8-20, 1990. The NATO ASI marked a stage in a two-year research project at the U. S. National Center for Geographic Infonnation and Analysis (NCOIA). In 1987, the U. S. National Science Foundation issued a solicitation for proposals to establish the NCGIA-and one element of that solicitation was a call for research on a "fundamental theory of spatial relations". We felt that such a fundamental theory could be searched for in mathematics (geometry, topology) or in cognitive science, but that a simultaneous search in these two seemingly disparate research areas might produce novel results. Thus, as part of the NCGIA proposal from a consortium consisting of the University of California at Santa Barbara, the State University of New York at Buffalo, and the University of Maine, we proposed that the second major Research Initiative (two year, multidisciplinary research project) of the NCOIA would address these issues, and would be called "Languages of Spatial Relations" The grant to establish the NCOIA was awarded to our consortium late in 1988.


Wayfinding Behavior

Wayfinding Behavior

Author: Reginald G. Golledge

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 460

ISBN-13: 9780801859939

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The metaphor of a "cognitive map" has attracted interest since the 1940s. Researchers from many fields have explored how humans process and use spatial information, why they make errors or not. This text brings together contributors from diverse fields to explore the


From Here to There

From Here to There

Author: Michael Bond

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2020-05-12

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 0674244575

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A wise and insightful exploration of human navigation, what it means to be lost, and how we find our way. How is it that we can walk unfamiliar streets while maintaining a sense of direction? Come up with shortcuts on the fly, in places we’ve never traveled? The answer is the complex mental map in our brains. This feature of our cognition is easily taken for granted, but it’s also critical to our species’ evolutionary success. In From Here to There Michael Bond tells stories of the lost and found—Polynesian sailors, orienteering champions, early aviators—and surveys the science of human navigation. Navigation skills are deeply embedded in our biology. The ability to find our way over large distances in prehistoric times gave Homo sapiens an advantage, allowing us to explore the farthest regions of the planet. Wayfinding also shaped vital cognitive functions outside the realm of navigation, including abstract thinking, imagination, and memory. Bond brings a reporter’s curiosity and nose for narrative to the latest research from psychologists, neuroscientists, animal behaviorists, and anthropologists. He also turns to the people who design and expertly maneuver the world we navigate: search-and-rescue volunteers, cartographers, ordnance mappers, urban planners, and more. The result is a global expedition that furthers our understanding of human orienting in the natural and built environments. A beguiling mix of storytelling and science, From Here to There covers the full spectrum of human navigation and spatial understanding. In an age of GPS and Google Maps, Bond urges us to exercise our evolved navigation skills and reap the surprising cognitive rewards.


Learning and Teaching with Maps

Learning and Teaching with Maps

Author: Patrick Wiegand

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 9780415312097

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This title provides a comprehensive account of how young children learn with maps and how teachers can best teach them. A particular feature of the book is the integration of digital and conventional mapping.


Wayfinding

Wayfinding

Author: M. R. O'Connor

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Published: 2019-04-30

Total Pages: 367

ISBN-13: 1250096960

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

At once far flung and intimate, a fascinating look at how finding our way make us human. "A marvel of storytelling." —Kirkus (Starred Review) In this compelling narrative, O'Connor seeks out neuroscientists, anthropologists and master navigators to understand how navigation ultimately gave us our humanity. Biologists have been trying to solve the mystery of how organisms have the ability to migrate and orient with such precision—especially since our own adventurous ancestors spread across the world without maps or instruments. O'Connor goes to the Arctic, the Australian bush and the South Pacific to talk to masters of their environment who seek to preserve their traditions at a time when anyone can use a GPS to navigate. O’Connor explores the neurological basis of spatial orientation within the hippocampus. Without it, people inhabit a dream state, becoming amnesiacs incapable of finding their way, recalling the past, or imagining the future. Studies have shown that the more we exercise our cognitive mapping skills, the greater the grey matter and health of our hippocampus. O'Connor talks to scientists studying how atrophy in the hippocampus is associated with afflictions such as impaired memory, dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease, depression and PTSD. Wayfinding is a captivating book that charts how our species' profound capacity for exploration, memory and storytelling results in topophilia, the love of place. "O'Connor talked to just the right people in just the right places, and her narrative is a marvel of storytelling on its own merits, erudite but lightly worn. There are many reasons why people should make efforts to improve their geographical literacy, and O'Connor hits on many in this excellent book—devouring it makes for a good start." —Kirkus Reviews


Maps and the Internet

Maps and the Internet

Author: M.P. Peterson

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2005-12-17

Total Pages: 474

ISBN-13: 9780080449449

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book examines a new trend affecting cartography and geographic information science. Presenting the work of over 30 authors from 16 different countries, the book provides an overview of current research in the new area of Internet Cartography. Chapters deal with the growth of this form of map distribution, uses in education, privacy issues, and technical aspects from the point of view of the map provider - including Internet protocols such as XML and SVG. Many see the Internet as a revolution for cartography. Previously tied to the medium of paper and expensive large-format color print technology, maps had a limited distribution and use. The Internet made it possible to not only distribute maps to a much larger audience but also to incorporate interaction and animation in the display. Maps have also become timelier with some maps of traffic and weather being updated every few minutes. In addition, it is now possible to access maps from servers throughout the world. Finally, the Internet has made historic maps available for viewing to the public that were previously only available in map libraries with limited access. * Provides comprehensive coverage of maps and the internet * Delivers a global perspective * Combines theoretical and practical aspects


Information Design

Information Design

Author: Alison Black

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2017-01-12

Total Pages: 767

ISBN-13: 1317125290

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Information Design provides citizens, business and government with a means of presenting and interacting with complex information. It embraces applications from wayfinding and map reading to forms design; from website and screen layout to instruction. Done well it can communicate across languages and cultures, convey complicated instructions, even change behaviours. Information Design offers an authoritative guide to this important multidisciplinary subject. The book weaves design theory and methods with case studies of professional practice from leading information designers across the world. The heavily illustrated text is rigorous yet readable and offers a single, must-have, reference to anyone interested in information design or any of its related disciplines such as interaction design and information architecture, information graphics, document design, universal design, service design, map-making and wayfinding.