This book has a bold claim on it's front; 'maps and graphics that will change how you see the world', so is it justified? The authors had already already published similar books. One, 'Where the animals go', used data from tracking animals and birds to visualise migration patterns, population densities and so on, This builds on that premise to look at how societies function by mapping connectivity, commuting patterns and population movements. But it goes into more problematical areas too, straying into politics and not shying away from more controversial subjects such as lynchings in American states and the passage of slaves from Africa to the Americas, as well as misogyny and gender inequality.
Through it all they illustrate the essential truth of the dictum that a picture paints a thousand words. We all know about the idea of gerrymandering; re-drawing the boundaries of districts to favour one party against another. But seeing the outlines of districts that are stretched out and twisted to achieve the desired result makes it more real somehow.
Later chapters of the book deal with global warming, another subject that is brought to life through imagery far more effectively than by tables of statistics. The map of Majuro in the Marshall Islands shows just how much of it is at risk of being underwater, but the map is sufficiently Zoomed in to show not just which residential districts but which Government buildings will be inundated or cut off, bringing home just how real the threat is.
Some of the most interesting maps show things at the opposite scale; the Global overview of mobile phone connections clearly shows how much further down this route Western Europe, the Eastern United States, Korea and Japan are compared to China and India, whilst the isolation of North Korea shows up starkly in the almost total absence of phone towers in that country. The map of China that shows population movement from the countrside to cities is another great example of an overview that illustrates a truth, with the blue showing areas of population drop and the red showing where they have moved to.
If you are some-one who thinks that all this data mapping is a two-edged sword will be disturbed by the use of mobile phone data to show how people moved from Puerto Rico to the United States after Hurricane Maria struck the island; where they went to and in what numbers, as well as when they began to return. This, however, is the world we live in now. I am one of those who was instinctively opposed to too much connectivity; but being unable to change it I now seek to understand it.
So, back to that claim on the cover. I think it stands up; the various spreads make you think about subjects as mundane as commuting and as controversial as slavery with fresh eyes, as well as exciting thought about what it all means for our lives. I would recommend this book to anyone who thinks about our world and about human society and endeavour and seeks understanding. You need to be prepared to have your conceptions and ideas challenged, and it should awaken a desire to explore further.
Graphic showing popularity of names across the globe
