Collection
Language
Publication
Scribner (2012), Edition: Reprint, 304 pages
Description
It comes as no surprise that, as a kid, Jeopardy! legend Ken Jennings slept with a bulky Hammond world atlas by his pillow every night. Maphead recounts his lifelong love affair with geography and explores why maps have always been so fascinating to him and to fellow enthusiasts everywhere. Jennings takes readers on a world tour of geogeeks, from the London Map Fair to the computer programmers at Google Earth. Each chapter delves into a different aspect of map culture: highpointing, geocaching, road atlas rallying, even the "unreal estate" charted on the maps of fiction and fantasy. He also considers the ways in which cartography has shaped our history, suggesting that the impulse to make and read maps is as relevant today as it has ever been.--From publisher description.… (more)
Media reviews
Eighteenth century English essayist Charles Lamb insightfully proclaimed, “Nothing is more important than space and time—yet nothing is less important, because I never think of them.” While geography, the social science discipline most aligned with considerations of spatial relationships over
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time, was of supreme importance to society in earlier centuries, in recent decades its stature has declined markedly.
Though individuals today enjoy unprecedented choices about their place choices—in which they might live and work, eat and meet and connect, learn and play, shop and travel, exercise, heal and rest, worship and prosper—and contemporary culture, society, and commerce are ever more influenced by what happens in other places, yet people’s knowledge about places is less rather than more. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member auntmarge64
A delightful book about maps and the people who love them. Jennings, well-known from "Jeopardy", was himself a map freak even as a child, and his author photo shows him at age 5 or so, beaming as he looks through his favorite atlas.
Topics range from an overview of map types (how about one made of
There's even a discussion of the different ways in which men and women use and perceive maps. Let me ask you: if you're a woman, do you use your GPS with the car symbol always heading in one direction (up, for me) and the map moving to accommodate it? Or, if a man, would you rather have the map always with north on the top and the car symbol swiveling to make that possible?
Jennings writes with humor and intelligence, and I have a hard time imagining how this book could have been more entertaining or informative for a general audience.
Topics range from an overview of map types (how about one made of
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sticks to guide Pacific islanders via ocean currents?), to the deplorable lack of map knowledge in an age of GPS, to the myriad ways maps are being used today: for example, geocaching (treasure-hunting based on map clues, for which there is now a scout merit badge). There are lots of fascinating examples of geographical oddities mixed in, and many times I picked up my iPad to read up on things such as the world's largest triple island (an island on a lake on an island on a lake on an island on a lake - I think that's the right number of each....) There's even a discussion of the different ways in which men and women use and perceive maps. Let me ask you: if you're a woman, do you use your GPS with the car symbol always heading in one direction (up, for me) and the map moving to accommodate it? Or, if a man, would you rather have the map always with north on the top and the car symbol swiveling to make that possible?
Jennings writes with humor and intelligence, and I have a hard time imagining how this book could have been more entertaining or informative for a general audience.
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LibraryThing member thornton37814
Jeopardy champion extraordinaire Ken Jennings takes a look at cartophilia, the love of maps. He explains his own love of them and then proceeds to show how cartophilia and a love of all things geographic manifests itself from map study, to collecting maps, to geography bees, to driving, to
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geocaching, to Google Earth, etc. Some parts are more engaging than others. His humor ranges from mild chuckles to downright corny. As someone who devoured maps as a child and researched countries and cities through the use of the two sets of encyclopedias at home and library books, I was both pleased with and disappointed in the book. His deep appreciation of all things geographic struck a chord with me, but the book overall failed to engage me as much as I'd hoped it would. Show Less
LibraryThing member eichin
This has been on my list to read since it came out - having had both personal and professional interest in maps and geography for decades (crowned by spending the last 10 years working directly on Map Search, for MetaCarta and then Nokia.) Yes, I have the laminated world and europe maps on the
Turns out that there really *are* a lot of "us" - a very broad spectrum of geographic obsession, including the geocachers and the Century Club (> 100 countries), those that collect maps-as-art, and the kids at the Geography Bee who know (not just trivia, but can reason about) vast quantities of information about the world and what's in it.
Jennings (famously obsessive himself) brings a wealth of both well-footnoted facts and very human stories to the table, including Alex Trebek's enthusiasm for the Geography Bee, and how turning off GPS Selective Availability led *directly* to the invention of the hobby/sport of GeoCaching.
If you're the sort to browse map stores, or accumulate gas station maps, or even to think "hey, google maps is pretty cool, where did it come from?" you'll enjoy MapHead; it's also easy to read in bits and pieces - while there are interesting cross-connections, it's an exploration, not a novel.
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wall, with wet-erase markers clipped to them to "keep score" (thick line for "been there", little airplane icon-sketch for "flew through, never really left the airport".)Turns out that there really *are* a lot of "us" - a very broad spectrum of geographic obsession, including the geocachers and the Century Club (> 100 countries), those that collect maps-as-art, and the kids at the Geography Bee who know (not just trivia, but can reason about) vast quantities of information about the world and what's in it.
Jennings (famously obsessive himself) brings a wealth of both well-footnoted facts and very human stories to the table, including Alex Trebek's enthusiasm for the Geography Bee, and how turning off GPS Selective Availability led *directly* to the invention of the hobby/sport of GeoCaching.
If you're the sort to browse map stores, or accumulate gas station maps, or even to think "hey, google maps is pretty cool, where did it come from?" you'll enjoy MapHead; it's also easy to read in bits and pieces - while there are interesting cross-connections, it's an exploration, not a novel.
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LibraryThing member debnance
Are you a maphead? Do you know the symptoms? King of the Mapheads Ken Jennings knows his fellow mapheads. He knows those of us who, in childhood, saved our allowances to purchase an enormous Hammonds world atlas. Jennings knows how we mapheads have all the states and capitals memorized. He can spot
Maphead-dom is a satisfying existence, we learn, as Jennings transports us to visit with enormous colonies of mapheads, at the London Map Fair, the National Geographic Bee, to the treasure trove of maps hidden in the depths of the Library of Congress.
And we are happy to accompany Jennings in this delightful journey chronicled here.
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us as we longingly, lovingly spend hours pouring over enormous library globes. Maphead-dom is a satisfying existence, we learn, as Jennings transports us to visit with enormous colonies of mapheads, at the London Map Fair, the National Geographic Bee, to the treasure trove of maps hidden in the depths of the Library of Congress.
And we are happy to accompany Jennings in this delightful journey chronicled here.
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LibraryThing member klburnside
I found Ken Jennings to be a very likeable contestant on Jeopardy and he continues to be very likable in this book. His enthusiasm for geography and the world around him is contagious. While reading this book, I realized how little I know about geography. In one chapter, Jennings is at the National
This book also made me appreciate technology more. I always thought that the whole GPS geocaching thing seemed boring, but it sounds so exciting in the book, especially when it leads you to interesting places that you wouldn’t go otherwise. The way Jennings describes in it in the book, it becomes a way to open your eyes to the world around you.
This book is a quick read full of interesting little anecdotes and trivia tidbits. It isn’t a life changing book, but it is a fun read for anyone who likes geography even just a little bit.
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Geography Bee. I couldn’t believe how hard the questions were. I don’t think I could even make an educated guess for most of the questions. This book also made me appreciate technology more. I always thought that the whole GPS geocaching thing seemed boring, but it sounds so exciting in the book, especially when it leads you to interesting places that you wouldn’t go otherwise. The way Jennings describes in it in the book, it becomes a way to open your eyes to the world around you.
This book is a quick read full of interesting little anecdotes and trivia tidbits. It isn’t a life changing book, but it is a fun read for anyone who likes geography even just a little bit.
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LibraryThing member hailelib
Interesting but somewhat rambling narrative of the author's life-long love affair with maps, atlases and cartography. We are treated to a tour of his encounters with all types of "geogeeks": highpointers, geocachers, road atlas rally enthusiasts and so on. Entertaining and informative.
LibraryThing member Othemts
Ken Jennings is a person I like merely because he became a celebrity by being intelligent. Now I know he shares a common passion for maps. As a child I used to lay out maps and atlases and study them for hours and have never lost the love of looking at maps, learning from them, or appreciating
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their decorative aspects. Jennings connects with people like myself who love maps and to a greater extent geography through a series of essays that cover topics including geocaching, highpointing, travelers clubs, road atlas rallying, map collecting and antique sales, programming Google Earth, GPS, the National Geographic Bee, as well as maps in fiction and metaphorical maps. Jennings' observations are illuminating and entertaining and the entire book is a delight to read Show Less
LibraryThing member DirtPriest
For an afterthought on my Christmas list this year, I got a dandy of a book. And yes, it is by that guy from jeopardy. I suppose that a more discriminating reader would consider it to be the ramblings of a mad genius, but I thought it was full of insight into a fading culture of people like me who
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love old maps, or maybe just paper maps. He does bring up the point that most mapheads excel at spatial relations puzzles, but mostly that they tend to be embarrassed about being a nerd of some kind. He also expresses his opinions on digital maps and how they are quickly rendering paper maps obsolete, and the subtle insinuation that a car GPS is little more than a talking map that always puts forward at the top as opposed to north. That sort of thing might be detrimental to direction sense, but possibly in a way similar to how our ancestors told time by the sun as opposed to a perfectly fine wristwatch. Anyway, maybe map lore is like dinosaur lore, something kids are interested until about 4th grade then they don't care anymore. Show Less
LibraryThing member devdev365
Makes a pretty convincing case for being a "maphead" -- maps, and the study of geography, are extremely interesting as handled by Jennings. Leave it to a trivia whiz to know exactly which arcane (and not so arcane) information will be most fascinating.
LibraryThing member as3v
an excellent read for geogeeks and the rest of us! All of us can relate in some ways to the many ways we use maps!
LibraryThing member Bellettres
Pure delight! Ken Jennings explores the world of maps of all sorts (paper, GPS, GoogleEarth, antique, globes, etc.) with humor (I laughed out loud in almost every chapter) and passion. Had never heard of geocaching, but checked it out and discovered there's a cache less than a half mile from my
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home. Loved the chapter on imaginary places, as well as the one on the National Geography Bee. Highly entertaining and well-written. Show Less
LibraryThing member SherylHendrix
This book appealed to me because I enjoy looking at maps and have, in fact, as Jennings described used them to decorate in my home. For more than twenty-five years I maintained a membership in the National Geographic Society and collected the magazines until we had to move and I realized that
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hauling more than 300 issues of the magazine from place to place just didn't work anymore. I donated them to a schoolteacher friend to use in her classroom to provide kids with pictures to cut up. Jennings has an engaging writing style, and parts of the book I enjoyed very much, but I did find other chapters less than enthralling, so it took me the better part of three full weeks to actually read it. Thus the three stars. For the right person this could be a five star book, and for the wrong person this could easily become a one-star book so I can recommend it only for those most interested in geography and maps. Show Less
LibraryThing member Katya0133
Jennings examines the world of map geeks from a number of different perspectives including collectors of rare maps, geocachers, and finalists at the National Geography Bee. I thought this book might suffer from a lack of a strong personal narrative (such as Jennings' run on Jeopardy, which was
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explored in Brainiac). However, he proves to be a natural at chatting up people from all over the world, as well as describing his own personal love of maps in a compelling way. Another great book. Show Less
LibraryThing member jcbrunner
"Geography nerd" would have been a more accurate title, as this book is only partly about cartography. Jennings writes for his Jeopardy core audience, people interested in a bit of knowledge but not too much. Jennings isn't looking for understanding but completion: His interest in geography is
The book is truly American. Everything is car-based. Even nature is best enjoyed out of a car. His US focus lets him miss a lot of details and complexity (which many in his audience who would be unable to identify their own country on a world map couldn't handle any way). Another peculiarity are the constant brand infomercials and endorsements. Jennings has fully absorbed the world of "we will return after these messages". Wedded to his sponsors, he fails to recognize the diversity of approaches to his topic. Overall, I had expected more, especially after the strong start of the first chapter.
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OCD-driven. Compiling and ticking off lists is his obsession, geography is just one of those subjects with a nearly inexhaustible supply of factoids. Given his audience, the new topics Jennings reveals are Google Earth, GPS and geo-caching.The book is truly American. Everything is car-based. Even nature is best enjoyed out of a car. His US focus lets him miss a lot of details and complexity (which many in his audience who would be unable to identify their own country on a world map couldn't handle any way). Another peculiarity are the constant brand infomercials and endorsements. Jennings has fully absorbed the world of "we will return after these messages". Wedded to his sponsors, he fails to recognize the diversity of approaches to his topic. Overall, I had expected more, especially after the strong start of the first chapter.
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LibraryThing member alanna1122
My husband picked this book out for me as a Christmas present last year and I wasn't sure at all if I would like it. It is true that I like reading about unusually hobbies and things like that - but maps seem so dry.
Turns out it was a really nice read. Ken Jennings (massive Jeopardy Champion) is an
It also turns out that I had a preexisting affection for maps that I had never really thought about or diagnosed. I particularly loved the chapter on GPS and Geocaching - a newish hobby of our family.
There were some parts of this that were a bit dry - it isn't a page turner - but it was something I read happily and slowly over the period of a couple months.
Recommended!
Turns out it was a really nice read. Ken Jennings (massive Jeopardy Champion) is an
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enaging writer who has an extremely wry sense of humor. It also turns out that I had a preexisting affection for maps that I had never really thought about or diagnosed. I particularly loved the chapter on GPS and Geocaching - a newish hobby of our family.
There were some parts of this that were a bit dry - it isn't a page turner - but it was something I read happily and slowly over the period of a couple months.
Recommended!
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LibraryThing member WelchBG
I really enjoyed Jennings' charming and witty exploration of the topic.
LibraryThing member Daniel.Estes
"It would be nice if Americans knew where a country was before we went to war with them." - Alex Trebek, Jennings' old nemesis
I love reading and studying maps. If you ask me about it, I might describe my interest using nebulous phrases such as "geographic relationships" or "sense of place" before
The world of the geography wonk has many devoted followers: geography trivia, map collectors, the annual National Geographic Bee and the GPS hobby of geocaching to name a few covered in this book. But the subject is also considered second tier according to the mainstream and Jennings gives compelling reasons why this shouldn't be so and makes the case for a stronger geography education.
I love reading and studying maps. If you ask me about it, I might describe my interest using nebulous phrases such as "geographic relationships" or "sense of place" before
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degrading further into abstraction. I don't know, I just love it. Maphead by Ken Jennings (of Jeopardy fame) is an exploration of why a certain niche group of people like me love geography so much. That hard-to-describe passion for maps, he reasons, probably extends from an acute intelligence of spatial awareness. Those test questions from high school where you were asked to pick the correct rotated version of some complex shape, excelling at those usually meant being above-average at directional thinking.The world of the geography wonk has many devoted followers: geography trivia, map collectors, the annual National Geographic Bee and the GPS hobby of geocaching to name a few covered in this book. But the subject is also considered second tier according to the mainstream and Jennings gives compelling reasons why this shouldn't be so and makes the case for a stronger geography education.
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LibraryThing member cookierooks
Mapheads. You know who you are.
LibraryThing member akmargie
Somewhat meandering look at people who are obsessed with maps and geography. Slightly unfocused but I found the chapters dealing with map illiteracy the most interesting. I mean honestly, we have major problems in this country if people can't find Chicago on a map. It's super easy to find. Right
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next to one of the five big blue things in the upper half. Also agree that GPSs are evil and never trust them. You'll end up in a lake or stuck on train tracks, right where they want you. Show Less
LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba
I liked this book. Didn't love it. I found the way Ken jumps from topic to topic within this book to be too distracting. For example, obsession is tacked in with GeoCaching - it works, and I think for those looking for a more scholarly take on the subject - it will be annoying.
This book covers a
One thing - the recurrence of obsession follows this book - with attainment of the highest point in each US State to creating a very large (Imaginary) Kingdom that a person spent years on.
Still, its interesting, and you learn a lot of odd trivia. Its also quite interesting, and at times, very funny. But, I found the jumping around of topics to be annoying and distracting.
This book covers a
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lot of topics, and I think it would be a good book if you want a general overall coverage of cartography and maps - or possibly a good introduction into the subject, its make a good starting point. But for a serious "MapHead" it will drive them nutty.One thing - the recurrence of obsession follows this book - with attainment of the highest point in each US State to creating a very large (Imaginary) Kingdom that a person spent years on.
Still, its interesting, and you learn a lot of odd trivia. Its also quite interesting, and at times, very funny. But, I found the jumping around of topics to be annoying and distracting.
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LibraryThing member Skybalon
Part autobiography, part celebration of all things geographical, this is a pretty much constantly enjoyable read. You'll learn stuff you never knew you didn't know including that even Ken Jennings doesn't know everything. Well worth the read.
LibraryThing member treehorse
I enjoyed the information on maps/geography/etc., but somewhere past the halfway point I began to wish that Jennings' would give the snarkiness a rest. It began to sound forced, which was a shame, as he used humor wonderfully.
LibraryThing member tronella
Although I am not a geography wonk myself, this was a very enjoyable read. The author talks to and about various types of map-lover, including antique map collectors and geocachers, in a way that really conveyed their love of their hobbies. The new-to-me subjects of geography bees and map rallies
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were especially interesting. Show Less
LibraryThing member scote23
It's nice to know there are other mapheads out there, even if they are mostly boys (ugh!) ;) My favorite chapters were the one about the National Geographic Bee (which I once participated in) and the one in which you discover Ken Jennings and Brandon Sanderson were college roommates. I think that
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explains a lot. Show Less
LibraryThing member tgraettinger
Enjoyable reading on a wide variety of facets of geography, from geography bees to geocaching to country "collectors". The book starts out pretty slowly, in my opinion, but starts gaining steam when the author dives into the world of geography bees. Stick with it, it's worth it in the end.
Awards
Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award (Shortlist — 2012)
Original language
English
Original publication date
2011-09
Physical description
304 p.; 6 inches
ISBN
9781439167182