{"product_id":"earth-shapers-how-we-mapped-and-mastered-the-world-from-the-panama-canal-to-the-baltic-way","title":"Earth Shapers: How We Mapped and Mastered the World, from the Panama Canal to the Baltic Way","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe globetrotting story of how humans have harnessed the geographical landscape and written ourselves onto our surroundings.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Mountains, meridians, rivers, and borders--these are some of the features that divide the world on our maps and in our minds. But geography is far less set in stone than we might believe, and, as Maxim Samson's \u003ci\u003eEarth Shapers\u003c\/i\u003e contends, in our relatively short time on this planet, humans have become experts at fundamentally reshaping our surroundings. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e From the Qhapaq Ñan, the Inca's \"great road,\" and Mozambique's colonial railways to a Saudi Arabian smart city, and from Korea's sacred Baekdu-daegan mountain range and the Great Green Wall in Africa to the streets of Chicago, Samson explores how we mold the world around us. And how, as we etch our needs onto the natural landscape, we alter the course of history. These fascinating stories of connectivity show that in our desire to make geographical connections, humans have broken through boundaries of all kinds, conquered treacherous terrain, and carved up landscapes. We crave linkages, and though we do not always pay attention to the in-between, these pathways--these ways of \"earth shaping,\" in Samson's words--are key to understanding our relationship with the planet we call home. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e An immense work of cultural geography touching on ecology, sociology, history, and politics, \u003ci\u003eEarth Shapers\u003c\/i\u003e argues that, far from being constrained by geography, we are instead its creators.","brand":"University of Chicago Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51984255811815,"sku":"9780226844749","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0449\/4075\/5096\/files\/imageloader_91588072-3b6d-4f75-b0ad-a28c217279d0.jpg?v=1776315041","url":"https:\/\/arvidabookco.com\/products\/earth-shapers-how-we-mapped-and-mastered-the-world-from-the-panama-canal-to-the-baltic-way","provider":"Arvida Book Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}