With a keen eye and thoughtful detail, Simon Winchester unfolds the poignant sacrifice behind this world-changing discovery. With a keen eye and thoughtful detail, Simon Winchester unfolds the poignant sacrifice behind this world-changing discovery. The Map That Changed the World is a very human tale of endurance and achievement, of one man's dedication in the face of ruin.

First, it successfully evokes the atmosphere of the late eighteenth century to early nineteenth century, an exciting period when scientific. Simultaneous release with HarperCollins hardcover (Forecasts, June 4). The Map That Changed the World is a very human tale of endurance and achievement, of one man’s dedication in the face of ruin. The Map that Changed the World is about William Smith the Father of Geology and the Great Map of Englands Geology that he created. The Map That Changed the World is the story of William Smith, a self taught and brilliant geologist who created the first geological map of England and Wales.This book is a delight for several reasons. He fully engages listeners, not only with the excitement of Smith's life and work, but even with geological explications that would have been pretty dull in science class. Winchester is a fine stylist who also has a fine, clear reading voice. Published in 1815, Smith's huge and beautiful map of geological strata and the fossils imbedded in them blazed the way for Darwin and the creation-vs.-evolution debates that rage even day. Smith's life illustrates the interconnectedness of early 19th-century science, the industrial revolution, an intellectual climate that permits a look beyond religious dogma, and the class biases that endlessly impede his finances and fortunes. Around 200 years later, a rare first edition copy of his seminal work was unearthed. Here is William Smith, the orphan son of a village blacksmith, with lots of pluck and little luck-until the end of his life when this pioneering first geological cartographer of the world beneath our feet was finally and fully recognized. It is a map that laid the foundations of a field of study that culminated in the work of Charles Darwin. As he did in The Professor and the Madman, Winchester chooses an obscure historical character who is inherently fascinating, but whose life and work have also had a strong impact on civilization.

The map that changed the world