How Maps Change Things

March 5th 2012 marks the 500th birthday of map-maker Gerhard Kremer, aka Mercator. There are many wishing the Flemish map maker well! From blogs to books the man who has shaped for many our world view is celebrated as often as vilified. Four centuries later, Arno Peters created what many see as a fair view of our world, but others see as a distorted or misleading map! Across the centuries it is maps that link these men and their impact on current human activity. This landmark book - How Maps Change Things: A Conversation About the Maps We Choose and the World We Want - looks at maps by these two men and others. This examination goes beyond maps as nouns, as tactile objects that show locations and distances. "Maps are verbs ... don't be fooled" we are told at the outset of How Maps Change Things. The book examines maps as change agents, reflecting intentions and setting agendas, stating who has what, and who has not. What are the messages sent by maps? What were Mercator, Peters and other map makers setting out to do with each of their creations? Ward Kaiser, author, publisher, pastor, and historian was instrumental in bringing the Peters Equal Area Map to North America. He has been leading the discussion of what maps mean and the power of maps in framing human activities. In How Maps Change Things Kaiser takes a passionate view of how maps illustrate and influence the significant paths humans pursue. Rather than looking for definitive answers, Kaiser focuses on asking thought-provoking questions. "What does our world, through the view of maps, really look like and what does the perspective (or frame of reference or bias) of the viewer mean to the map and its view? Are all maps simply propaganda for the hidden agenda of the map-maker? What is the world we get and what is the world we want ... and who cares and why?" Kaiser has stimulated an impressive and important conversation.

March 5th 2012 marks the 500th birthday of map-maker Gerhard Kremer, aka Mercator. There are many wishing the Flemish map maker well! From blogs to books the man who has shaped for many our world view is celebrated as often as vilified. Four centuries later, Arno Peters created what many see as a fair view of our world, but others see as a distorted or misleading map! Across the centuries it is maps that link these men and their impact on current human activity. This landmark book - How Maps Change Things: A Conversation About the Maps We Choose and the World We Want - looks at maps by these two men and others. This examination goes beyond maps as nouns, as tactile objects that show locations and distances. "Maps are verbs ... don't be fooled" we are told at the outset of How Maps Change Things. The book examines maps as change agents, reflecting intentions and setting agendas, stating who has what, and who has not. What are the messages sent by maps? What were Mercator, Peters and other map makers setting out to do with each of their creations? Ward Kaiser, author, publisher, pastor, and historian was instrumental in bringing the Peters Equal Area Map to North America. He has been leading the discussion of what maps mean and the power of maps in framing human activities. In How Maps Change Things Kaiser takes a passionate view of how maps illustrate and influence the significant paths humans pursue. Rather than looking for definitive answers, Kaiser focuses on asking thought-provoking questions. "What does our world, through the view of maps, really look like and what does the perspective (or frame of reference or bias) of the viewer mean to the map and its view? Are all maps simply propaganda for the hidden agenda of the map-maker? What is the world we get and what is the world we want ... and who cares and why?" Kaiser has stimulated an impressive and important conversation.

Ward Kaiser, author, publisher, pastor, and historian was instrumental in bringing the Peters Equal Area Map to North America. He has been leading the discussion of what maps mean and the power of maps in framing human activities. Kaiser has made guest appearances on National Public Radio, NBC-TV, CBC-Radio and -Television, Vision TV as well as many local media outlets in Canada and the United States. He has lectured extensively at colleges and universities and led worldview workshops and professional development seminars. Even in "retirement" he maintains a busy schedule of lecturing and writing. Kaiser has also translated or co-translated several works on cartography into English. His editorial and publishing background continues to be called upon through consulting services to several publishing enterprises in Europe and the United States. A graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, and of Union Theological Seminary, New York, Kaiser has pursued further graduate studies in history, education, cultural anthropology, theology, economics and business administration. Kaiser’s community activities have included fair access to housing for all, Scouting and other youth programs, work with blind and visually impaired persons, intercultural relations and political action for peace and justice. In his spare time he enjoys cycling. Recently, accompanied by his son, he completed a bike tour in France, following the same route - and using the same, well-worn Michelin map - he had taken 50 years earlier. When not traveling, Kaiser and his wife, Lorraine, live in central Florida and the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario. A British subject by birth, he now enjoys dual citizenship in Canada and the USA and strives to maintain an inclusive view as a world citizen. -