Book
Wayfinding : the science and mystery of how humans navigate the world / M. R. O'Connor.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781250096968 (hardcover)
- Physical Description: viii, 354 pages ; 22 cm
- Edition: First edition.
- Publisher: New York : St. Martin's Press, 2018.
Content descriptions
| Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Formatted Contents Note: | The last roadless place -- Memoryscapes -- Why children are amnesiacs -- Birds, bees, wolves, and whales -- Navigation made us human -- A storytelling computer -- Supernomads -- Dreamtime cartography -- Space and time in the brain -- Among the lightning people -- You say left, I say north -- Empiricism at Harvard -- Astronauts of Oceania -- Navigating climate change -- This is your brain on GPS -- Lost Tesla -- Epilogue: our genius is topophilia. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Orientation (Physiology) Space perception. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Tsuga Consortium.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cookstown Branch | 152.142 OCo | 31681010154193 | NONFIC | Available | - |
- Baker & Taylor
Examines the innate human ability to navigate using environmental clues and the brain's spatial orientation and cognitive mapping skills within the hippocampus and what this might mean for those suffering atrophy in this area leading to Alzheimer's, depression and PTSD. - Baker & Taylor
Examines the human ability to navigate using environmental clues and the brain's spatial orientation and cognitive mapping skills within the hippocampus, and details what this might mean for those suffering diseases in this area. - Baker & Taylor
"At once far flung and intimate, a fascinating look at how finding our way make us human. In this compelling narrative, O'Connor seeks out neuroscientists, anthropologists and master navigators to understand how navigation ultimately gave us our humanity. Biologists have been trying to solve the mystery of how organisms have the ability to migrate and orient with such precision--especially since our own adventurous ancestors spread across the world without maps or instruments. O'Connor goes to the Arctic, the Australian bush and the South Pacific to talk to masters of their environment who seek to preserve their traditions at a time when anyone can use a GPS to navigate. O'Connor explores the neurological basis of spatial orientation within the hippocampus. Without it, people inhabit a dream state, becoming amnesiacs incapable of finding their way, recalling the past, or imagining the future. Studies have shown that the more we exercise our cognitive mapping skills, the greater the grey matter and healthof our hippocampus. O'Connor talks to scientists studying how atrophy in the hippocampus is associated with afflictions such as impaired memory, dementia, Alzheimer's Disease, depression and PTSD. Wayfinding is a captivating book that charts how our species' profound capacity for exploration, memory and storytelling results in topophilia, the love of place"-- - McMillan Palgrave
At once far flung and intimate, a fascinating look at how finding our way make us human.
"A marvel of storytelling." âKirkus (Starred Review)
In this compelling narrative, O'Connor seeks out neuroscientists, anthropologists and master navigators to understand how navigation ultimately gave us our humanity. Biologists have been trying to solve the mystery of how organisms have the ability to migrate and orient with such precisionâespecially since our own adventurous ancestors spread across the world without maps or instruments. O'Connor goes to the Arctic, the Australian bush and the South Pacific to talk to masters of their environment who seek to preserve their traditions at a time when anyone can use a GPS to navigate.
OâConnor explores the neurological basis of spatial orientation within the hippocampus. Without it, people inhabit a dream state, becoming amnesiacs incapable of finding their way, recalling the past, or imagining the future. Studies have shown that the more we exercise our cognitive mapping skills, the greater the grey matter and health of our hippocampus. O'Connor talks to scientists studying how atrophy in the hippocampus is associated with afflictions such as impaired memory, dementia, Alzheimerâs Disease, depression and PTSD.
Wayfinding is a captivating book that charts how our species' profound capacity for exploration, memory and storytelling results in topophilia, the love of place.
"O'Connor talked to just the right people in just the right places, and her narrative is a marvel of storytelling on its own merits, erudite but lightly worn. There are many reasons why people should make efforts to improve their geographical literacy, and O'Connor hits on many in this excellent bookâdevouring it makes for a good start." âKirkus Reviews
