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Forthcoming spring 2010. Cover image may change.
Exploration and Discovery
Get to the Point
by Joseph Kerski (Click for author info)
Price and date of release to be determined.
ISBN not yet assigned.
THIS TITLE IS FORTHCOMING
DESCRIPTION:
Get to the Point documents what Earth looks like at the dawn of the 21st Century through a systematic photographic sampling of points on its surface. These points, lying at the intersections of whole-degrees of latitude and longitude, provide a vivid impression of each local place, but also, as a whole, a “portrait of the planet.”
Get to the Point is equally a story of the human spirit of exploration as expressed by investigating the travels and efforts of hundreds of individuals to find these points. Armed with cameras and Global Position Systems (GPS) receivers, these volunteer explorers often hike, bike, ride atop burros, drive, or ski for hours, days, or even weeks to find the points where lines of latitude and longitude cross. This location may be atop a mountain, deep within a rainforest, or in a rather ordinary-looking field. The journey to each point is more important than the arrival at the goal.
The book comprises photographs of people and places, first-hand accounts of the landforms, plants, animals, culture, and people encountered along these journeys, and a reflection on what these journeys say about the contemporary face of our planet and us as a global society.
Get to the Point is unique because the points serving as destinations are entirely based on the latitude-longitude grid, and therefore, the nature of each is a mystery until it is visited and documented. The points may end up as quite ordinary places, or quite spectacular ones, but always interesting. As the book provides some reflection on the people and places encountered through this effort, the book also illustrates, in a fun, lively, fascinating way, why the geographic perspective is important.
Get to the Point provides a portrait of our planet’s water resources, landforms, climate, vegetation, animals, and human impact on the land. This book ties together the current craze in using GPS technology with the longstanding love that people have for exploration, photography, and maps. Even though, by the 21st Century, most mountain peaks, caves, and oceans had been explored, this book demonstrates that the human spirit of exploration is far from dead. It lives on through quirky projects such as this. Written for a general audience, as well as modern-day explorers, Get to the Point clearly illustrates “why geography matters.”