Books |
Atlas of the World
produced by National Geographic
By
Published: Jan 01, 2004
Category:
Non Fiction
Atlas of the World
produced by National Geographic
“Whenever you see a straight line in the Middle East,” Butler’s stepson was saying on the phone in his best guess-what-I-just-learned voice, “you know that it was drawn by the British.”
In fact, Butler did not know this. And he very much wanted to. (What is the point, after all, of having a butler if he doesn’t possess a vast supply of seemingly useless information — and can then serve it up, on demand, as easily as he can fetch a glass of mineral water?)
It was then that Butler realized: his atlas was five years old. A snapshot of our world at an earlier time. A different world entirely.
Now that the holiday season is upon us, and people think of oversized books as gifts, it seems timely to propose a look at the new, 416-page National Geographic Atlas. In its first revision since 1999, you get the benefit of science — the maps are made with the help of satellite imagery and shuttle radar mapping (whatever that is). If it’s possible to be more tecnhically advanced than this….well, you’d probably need government clearance.
Butler is sending you to Amazon to buy this Atlas — it’s $112 there, versus $165 from the National Geographic — because Butler always wants a bargain. On the other hand, if you buy the Atlas from the National Geographic at full price, you get access to the NGS’s interactive website that lets you fly over landmarks and zoom in for a closer look. (Go to http://www.nationalgeographic.com/sampleatlas/ the National Georgraphic site to see the seriously cool stuff that’s available. At the very least, it’s a way to get reluctant kids interested in the world beyond our borders.)
Butler remembers rainy childhood afternoons when he opened the Atlas at random and dreamed of places far away. When he opens his Atlas now, he is, more often than not, looking for the location of trouble. A pity. But information is power; an Atlas is as necessary a research tool as Google. And somewhere out there are kids who don’t know what to do with themselves on a rainy afternoon, and someone throws out a name…..and here is this riveting record of our dear planet.
To buy the National Geographic Atlas from Amazon.com, click here.
