You Are Here

A superlative choice for technology buffs who want a historical perspective on location and navigation technologies. --Library Journal [A] breezy history of our ever-dwindling ability to lose our way. --Wall Street Journal Bray provides an entertaining account of how our ancestors learned to find their way around their neighborhood, then around a larger area, then around the world. --Roanoke Times Bright, well-written and highly informative. --Kirkus This book is a fascinating journey through the development of modern navigational systems and the brilliant foresight of the inventors. Definitely an entertaining read. --John Huth, author of The Lost Art of Finding Our Way You Are Here is a wonderful book, with lots of engaging stories about the engineers and engineering that have brought us the magical navigational gadgets that keep us on track. Ironically, this excellently written book is one to get lost in. --Henry Petroski, author of The Essential Engineer and The House with Sixteen Handmade Doors Hiawatha Bray's thrill ride through the world of GIS, Google Earth, and location tracking helps us understand how the e-maps that shoved aside the familiar paper map are both a convenience and a threat. --Mark Monmonier, author of How to Lie with Maps From Foucault to Foursquare, the history of location technology is one of graft, ingenuity and, ultimately, shopping. Hiawatha Bray maps out the journey with clarity and wit, and ends with a warning: now we know where we are, do we really want to be here? A timely, searching book if ever there was. --Simon Garfield, author of On the Map