Reference Reviews

Lawrence Looks at Books

The Atlas of the Real World: Mapping the Way We Live. Daniel Dorling, Mark Newman and Anna Barford. 400p. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2008. 978–0–500–51425–2; 2008–901880. $50.

This unique resource graphically portrays the differences and disparities among the nations of the world by combining color-coded maps with data drawn from United Nations statistical publications. Starting with a Gall-Peters projection, which depicts sizes of land areas accurately, the cartographers create maps of the world with the sizes of each country varying according to their share or use of the natural, economic or social resource portrayed. Following this method, the size of India nearly triples on the map depicting the world’s population. In another example, South America and Africa nearly vanish from the map analyzing municipal waste recycling. All told, maps depicting 366 socio–economic factors are arranged into six chapters which are further subdivided. Major areas of focus include population, transportation, energy, trade, economics, health, housing, mortality, war and the environment. Individual maps include energy sources, exports, wealth, child labor, adult literacy, mobile phones, landmine deaths, prison populations and extinct species. Distinctions in material wealth, education, consumer use and exposure to natural disaster and war are dramatically apparent on many of the maps. This eye-opening and informative tool is highly recommended and affordable for high school, public and academic libraries.