Title:
From here to there : the art and science of finding and losing our way
Author:
Edition:
First Harvard University Press edition.
Publication Date:
2020
Publication Information:
Cambridge, Massachusetts : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2020.
©2020
Physical Description:
x, 288 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps (some color) ; 22 cm.
ISBN:
9780674244573
Abstract:
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.
General Note:
"First published as Wayfinding by Picador"--Title page verso.
Contents:
The first wayfinders -- Right to roam -- Maps in the mind -- Thinking space -- From A to B and back again -- You go your way, I'll go mine -- Natural navigators -- The psychology of lost -- City sense -- Am I here? -- The end of the road.
Language:
English
