How is it that we can walk unfamiliar streets while maintaining a sense of direction? How can we come up with shortcuts on the fly, in places weâve never traveled? The answer is the complex mental map in our brains. This feature of our cognition is easily taken for granted, but itâs also critical to our speciesâ evolutionary success. In From Here to There, Michael Bond tells stories of the lost and foundâPolynesian sailors, orienteering champions, early aviatorsâand surveys the science of human navigation. Navigation skills are deeply embedded in our biology. The ability to find our way over large distances in prehistoric times gave Homo sapiens an advantage, allowing us to explore the farthest regions of the planet. Wayfinding also shaped vital cognitive functions outside the realm of navigation, including abstract thinking, imagination, and memory. Bond brings a reporterâs curiosity and nose for narrative to the latest research from psychologists, neuroscientists, animal behaviorists, and anthropologists. He also turns to the people who design and expertly maneuver the world we navigate: search-and-rescue volunteers, cartographers, ordnance mappers, urban planners, and more. The result is a global expedition that furthers our understanding of human orienting in natural and built environments.
From Here to There: The Art and Science of Finding and Losing Our Way
UpplÀsare:
Pete Cross
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