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Maphead

Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks
by Ken Jennings
Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks. Scribner. Sept. 2011. 288p. ISBN 9781439167175. $25; eISBN 9781439167199.
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I love maps, so this tale of geography nuts, from London map fair attendees to Google Earth programmers, appeals to me. But there are plenty of other mapheads out there, and Jennings already has a reputation as a record-making Jeopardy! contender, netting $2.52 million over 74 games. Plus, he's author of the best-selling Brainiac.
In 2004 Jennings won $2.52 million on Jeopardy!, which he chronicled in Brainiac. Now, in this witty and fast-paced narrative, he reveals himself as a "maphead," a cartophile who, as a child, took his atlas to bed with him. In exploring America's relationship to maps and geography, he introduces us to the geography and map division of the Library of Congress. We enter the world of international antique map dealers by attending the Royal Geographic Society's London Map Fair and meet younger mapheads at the annual National Geographic Bee. Next we encounter the world of the "roadgeeks," who monitor every change in our roads and highways and their signage. Wildest of all are the thousands of people caught up in geocaching, stashing and locating little treasure troves via a website and GPS coordinates. The final visit is with Brian McClendon in his Google Geo office at Google Earth's California headquarters and a discussion of "augmented reality," the apotheosis of mapping.
VERDICT This will be a delightful adventure for map mavens and those who enjoyed Mark Monmonier's From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow and Mark Stein's How the States Got Their Shapes. [Stein's sequel, How the States Got Their Shapes Too, is reviewed on p. 101.—Ed.]—Edward K. Werner, St. Lucie Cty. Lib. Syst., Ft. Pierce, FL
Reviewed by Edward K. Werner , Apr 01, 2011
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