Maps and Globes

Maps and globes can take you anywhere — to the top of the tallest mountain on earth or the bottom of the deepest ocean. Maps tell you about the world: where various countries are located, where the jungles and deserts are, even how to find your way around your own hometown. If you take a fancy to any place on earth, you can go there today and still be home in time for dinner. So open a map, spin a globe. The wide world awaits you.

A brief history of mapmaking, a simple explanation of how to read maps and globes, and an introduction to the many different kinds of maps there are.

Maps and globes can take you anywhere — to the top of the tallest mountain on earth or the bottom of the deepest ocean. Maps tell you about the world: where various countries are located, where the jungles and deserts are, even how to find your way around your own hometown. If you take a fancy to any place on earth, you can go there today and still be home in time for dinner. So open a map, spin a globe. The wide world awaits you.

Jack Knowlton was born in Florida. He is a free-lance writer living in New York City and is the author of Geography from A to Z and Maps and Globes, which was featured on Reading Rainbow.