Plotting the Oceans

Five stories that demonstrate the history and power of maps and the impact they have on our world

Charles Darwin mapped the world's coral reefs to support a theory about how they formed, and in doing so developed insights that shaped his eventual theory of evolution. The trailblazing Marie Tharp, barred from ocean expeditions in the 1950s, nevertheless created the first detailed map of the ocean floor, providing key evidence for the then radical idea of continental drift. Maps have triggered territorial claims, saved giant tortoises, and brought home the fragility of the Great Barrier Reef in the face of climate change.

Charting the course through these stories of discovery and disruption is Sarah Hamylton, herself an accomplished mapmaker who has travelled the globe and followed in the footsteps of cartographic giants. She explains what lies behind and beyond the maps we find in history books, scientific papers, and contemporary news stories.

Riveting, illuminating, and beautifully written, Plotting the Oceans answers critical questions about what the evolving nature of maps means for understanding our world, how it changes, and how we're changing it.

"By following geographer Sarah Hamylton on this enchanting voyage through time via maps of atolls, reefs, and spreading sea floors, a reader sees where longitude and latitude yield to insight and attitude." — Dava Sobel, author of Longitude