Atlas of Cyberspace [Hardcover]

We don't normally think of maps as contentious, but the Atlas of Cyberspace shows us otherwise. Information cartographers Martin Dodge and Rob Kitchin show off a wide range of possibilities of representing the vast realms of data existing on and supporting the Internet. Since so many of these models were created to display never-before-charted territories, the book is largely devoted to analysing their accuracy, ease of development and use, potential for abuse, and other qualities.

Chapters cover infrastructural elements, the Web, communities and creative renderings of cyberspace and contain both compelling images and thought-provoking texts. Though it ends up feeling more like a catalogue of visual display methods than a reference book detailing virtual geography, its examples still inform and startle the viewer with unexpected transformations of data into understanding and, occasionally, art. --Rob Lightner

"The Atlas of Cyberspace explores a remarkable universe of visual representations of the Internet's diversity, structure and content." --Vint Cerf, Chairman, ICANN

What does cyberspace ‘look’ like? The Atlas of Cyberspace is the first book to explore the spatial and visual nature of cyberspace and its infrastructure. It examines in accessible style why cyberspace is being mapped and the new cartographic and visualisation techniques being employed. The Atlas is broad in scope, concentrating on the many different aspects of cyberspace such as the Web, chat, email, virtual worlds, and the telecommunications infrastructure that supports cyberspace. It is fully illustrated with over 300 full colour images.

Cartographers have been creating maps for centuries. In recent years they have turned their attention to a new realm, cyberspace. For the first time a comprehensive selection of these maps have been collated into one source. Written in layperson’s terms and fully illustrated, the ‘Atlas of Cyberspace’ catalogues thirty year’s worth of maps to reveal the rich and varied landscapes of cyberspace, a landscape occupied by half a billion users and sustaining the information economy.

Several different types of maps are detailed. First, a review of maps of the Internet infrastructure showing where the computers are located, how the networks interconnect them and the traffic that flows between them. The book then takes a look at maps of the World-Wide Web, showing how the hyperlink structures and contents of websites are mapped to provide informational landscapes. Next, comes an examination of the ways social interactions between people, using email, chat, bulletin boards, virtual worlds, and games, can be mapped. It concludes with a discussion of the ways in which artists and writers are imagining the visual structure of cyberspace.

Martin Dodge is a researcher and part-time Phd student at the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA), University College London. He is researching the geography of Cyberspace. He maintains the Atlas of Cyberspaces web site, http://www.cybergeography.org/atlas/
Nobody has a better knowledge of the subject.

Rob Kitchin is a lecturer in human geography at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. His research interests centre on culture, space and power, geographies of Cyberspace, and geographies of disability.

What does cyberspace 'look' like? The Atlas of Cyberspace is the first book to explore the spatial and visual nature of cyberspace and its infrastructure. It examines in accessible style why cyberspace is being mapped and the new cartographic and visualisation techniques being employed. The Atlas is broad in scope, concentrating on the many different aspects of cyberspace such as the Web, chat, email, virtual worlds, and the telecommunications infrastructure that supports cyberspace. It is fully illustrated with over 300 full colour images.

Cartographers have been creating maps for centuries. In recent years they have turned their attention to a new realm, cyberspace. For the first time a comprehensive selection of these maps have been collated into one source. Written in layperson's terms and fully illustrated, the Atlas of Cyberspace catalogues thirty year's worth of maps to reveal the rich and varied landscapes of cyberspace, a landscape occupied by half a billion users and sustaining the information economy.

Several different types of maps are detailed. First, a review of maps of the Internet infrastructure showing where the computers are located, how the networks interconnect them and the traffic that flows between them. The book then takes a look at maps of the World-Wide Web, showing how the hyperlink structures and contents of websites are mapped to provide informational landscapes. Next, comes an examination of the ways social interactions between people, using email, chat, bulletin boards, virtual worlds, and games, can be mapped. It concludes with a discussion of the ways in which artists and writers are imagining the visual structure of cyberspace.

Key Audience

People working in the Internet industry and the information economy.

Software developers, telecommunication providers, network specialists, technology analysts, web designers.

Professional cartographers and geographers.

Students of cartography, cyberculture / computer-mediated communication, digital design / web design, geography of cyberspace, sociology of technology, hypertext, computer graphics.