Atlas of the Invisible

The book’s title immediately drew me in. Atlases and maps obviously help make things visible, so atlas and invisible did not seem like two words that belonged together. In actuality, the title was a bit misleading, albeit effective in gaining my attention.

Cheshire and Uberti provide over 200 different maps and other spatial visualizations of a wide range of things that are generally unseen or at least difficult to see but can be gainfully mapped out to better understand the world. Examples range from the geographies of telecommunication and shipping routes to glacial movements and wildfires.

The illustrations were striking… show more.

This atlas beautifully demonstrates how geography is crucial to making sense of patterns and relationships in the world. I sat down and read it cover to cover, though it also would work well as a coffee table book. If you dig maps and data, this book is for you. If you’re interested in design, this book is for you. If you want to really visualize how putting interesting data on a map can help you to look at the world in new ways, this book is for you. Heck, if you’re curious about the world, this book is for you. 

Sometimes we need much more than words. Maps, diagrams, and artistic illustrations often provide a comprehensive view. Over the last few years there’s been a conceptual transformation in the graphic arts, culminating in wonderful portfolios of visual illustrations depicting global environmental change. This new project, Atlas of the Invisible, is among the best. The title is crucial as so often the most important trends and patterns of our times are hard to ascertain, and even more difficult to synthesize and interpret. It is hard to perceive environmental change because of the scale at which it takes place. Atlas of… show more.