You Are Here: A Brief Guide to the World

One to One: On maps, cartography and our relationship with geographical enquiry over time stretching from ancient Babylon to GIS software. With increasingly sophisticated tools to build maps, "we have the means to comprehend the future.

"We are each at the centre of our own map... We are all innate mapmakers... maps [are the] mediators between an in... See more

Age of Geography: The field of geography and its changes over time, starting with map construction to the humanitarian work geographers participate in today. This chapter discusses Universal Basic Income, Sustainable Development Goals, and climate change contingencies that may be viable options, such as rewilding.

"Our ability to engage with geographical science will determine our future."

The view from L1: The origins of earth and a broad view of how the different geographies and atmospheric down to biospheric layers work together.

" Historical geography depicts the river as a conduit for human interaction, a linear attractant for hunters and gatherers, for camping and for cooking hazelnuts, for erecting staked roundhouses and processional ways, for building civilisations and launching an Industrial Revolution."

"So it's taken some 4.6 billion years for a cosmic swirl of gas and dust to evolve into a planet fit for butterflies and children...This intricate web of life exists because Earth operates as a system in which everything is connected and interdependent. The word 'complex' does not begin to describe the workings of this system ."

Water World: From glaciers to rivers to our relationship with water across cultures and history. This chapter covers water cycles and our influence on the future of water.

"Geography is central to the survival of humanity... we are now geographical leviathans. Our actions make things happen so extensively, quickly, and powerfully that we seem on the verge of rendering the very fabric of nature, social relations and meaning ."

Neuropolis: Our relationship with cities from Mumbai to Manhattan. As our cities change, they inspire a change in us: "A new generation of explorers, cyclists and psychogeographers are remapping urban landscapes through non-places. In this expanding urban maze, waymarks — as ever — are key to community cohesion ." Cities are described as "an immens... See more