The Mapmakers’ World

 

ThMape Map Makers’ World: A Cultural History of the European World Map

by Marjo T. Nurminen
Translated by Owen F. Witesman and Erik Miller
Published by Pool of London

For a geography buff like me, working on this massive translation project for the past three years has been a delight. Anyone with an interest in European art, world geography, or the history of exploration will love this handsome volume!

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

The Mapmakers’ World  illuminates the fascinating cultural history of European world maps: what do historical world maps tell of us, of our perception of the world, and of places and peoples that are foreign to us? Who were the makers of these early world maps? How were the maps created and for whom were they drawn and printed? For what purposes were they used? What kind of information did they pass on? The answers to these questions open up a fascinating narrative of discovery and cartography relating not only to ideology and political power but also the histories of art and science.

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Rigorously researched and informed by the latest academic discoveries, The Mapmakers’ World  is beautifully illustrated presenting some 300 maps from the world’s finest museums, libraries and private collections. The book gives us a revealing and captivating perspective on the development of European world maps from the Early Middle Ages up until the modern period, i.e. from the 8th century until the end of the 18th century.

The Mapmakers’ World  is a major work which ambitiously showcases all of the early European world map traditions: Medieval world maps (T-O maps, mappa mundis, Beatus maps, etc.); Ptolemy’s maps; seafarers’ maps (portolan charts, planispheres and nautical charts), printed world maps and globes from the pre-Renaissance through to the Baroque era.

Furthermore, The Mapmakers’ World  takes its readers through the history of European global discovery and cartographic research, and also brings to life the exciting times when many of these historical maps were first discovered in the 19th century, after centuries of oblivion. The volume includes dedicated features further exploring 100 of the most important cartographic masterpieces from the period. The book is written as an exciting, flowing narrative, rather than a catalogue or an encyclopedia, and it takes the reader on the ultimate voyage of discovery.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Marjo T. Nurminen (born 1967) is an archaeologist by education and specialises in the history of science. She has worked as a TV journalist at the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE for more than ten years, focusing on science and its popularisation. Her book Tiedon Tyttaret (Sisters of Science) won the Tieto-Finlandia Award for the Best Finnish Non-Fiction Book in Finland 2008, and has been translated into a number of languages. Nurminen lives in Helsinki with her family.

Death Spiral

deathspiralDeath Spiral

by Leena Lehtolainen
Translated by Owen F. Witesman
Available from AmazonCrossing

From the publisher:

Noora Nieminen was destined to become a world champion. But when the sixteen-year-old skating sensation is found slain with her own skates, her promising career is unexpectedly cut short.

Detective Maria Kallio is seven months pregnant, but that isn’t going to stop her from putting everything she has into solving the murder. With a promotion on the line and her arrogant adversary, Pertti Ström, vying for the new job, Maria is determined to make an arrest. Could it be the deviant criminal who’s lately been terrorizing the city? Is it the former lover of Noora’s mother, who has been stalking the family since she rejected him? Or might the killer be someone even closer than that? With so much riding on Noora’s success—and so many people with motives to murder—the detective must sift through the long list of suspects before the case turns ice cold.

Death Spiral, the fifth book in Lehtolainen’s international bestselling Nordic crime series, is a chilling tale of hot tempers, high stakes, and the untimely death of a rising star.

Also in the Maria Kallio series:

Lithium-6

lithium6Lithium-6

by Risto Isomäki
Translated by Owen F. Witesman
Published by AmazonCrossing

From the publisher:

In the span of a few days, six tons of lithium-6 are stolen in Japan, and 180 grams of plutonium vanish in France. Word of these crimes quickly reaches Colonel Kenneth Andrews at the US Nuclear Terrorism Unit. He mobilizes the best team in nuclear defense, including special agents—and couple—Lauri Nurmi and Alice Donovan.

As this secret task force sets out to find the contraband elements, they begin to fear that someone is developing a doomsday weapon. Breeder reactors are being installed around the world to provide clean energy, but they also present risks: every shipment of fuel to a nuclear power station gives terrorists an opportunity to create a nuclear weapon. When Lauri and Alice realize that they have a global conflict on their hands, one in which the definition of terrorist is a moving target, they’ll put their relationship—and their lives—in jeopardy to venture headfirst toward a new and dangerous front line. But in this game of nuclear reaction, what holds the most power to destroy the world as we know it—the weapon itself or the fear it inspires?

Risto Isomäki is an author, science editor, and environmental activist. He has worked on several international projects in Africa and India, and he has published numerous nonfiction books on environmental affairs, development cooperation, and the third world. Isomäki’s fiction titles use solid scientific expertise and research-based facts to create fantastical visions of the future. His novel The Sands of Sarasvati was nominated for the Finlandia Prize in 2005 and also received the Thank You for the Book medal in 2006. Lithium-6 is his first novel to be published in English.

Also from this author:

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