Book Review: You Are Here
Books and recommendations from Scientific American
By Clara Moskowitz
You Are Here: From the Compass to GPS, the History and Future of How We Find Ourselves
by Hiawatha Bray
Basic Books, 2014
Around 300 years ago ship captains had no way of knowing their precise longitude at sea. Now many people carry in their pockets the technology to pinpoint their exact geographic coordinates from nearly anywhere on the earth. “Few technological marvels have been as marvelous as humanity's victory over the mysteries of location,” writes journalist Bray. In this history of navigation, he tells the story of how we learned to find our way around the planet ever more accurately and explores the implications of our “locational transparency.” After all, Bray says, “we can find anyplace with ease, but others can also find us.”
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