From antiquity to the space age, maps have both expressed our view of the world and have helped to determine that vision. Jerry Brotton, author of A History of the World in Twelve Maps, explains how each of his chosen maps not only represents a time but a way of thinking, whether it is the scientific curiosity of Ptolemy's second century AD Greece, or the urge for a new world perspective that inspired the still-controversial Peters Projection of 1973.
Simon Garfield looks at how the owners of modern map-making technology are using it to power the new capitalism, putting the consumer at the centre of what has become a world view that goes "from me-to-z".
Plus, we listen in to some historic send-ups of cartography, from Lewis Carroll's Hunting of the Snark to an episode of the West Wing. And we find out what maps mean to a group of 21st-century school students from the Arab Emirates.
Reading list
A History of the World in Twelve Maps by Jerry Brotton (Allen Lane)
On The Map by Simon Garfield (Profile)
Mapping the City by CJ Schüler (Editions Place des Victoires)
