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  • Published: 4 July 2002
  • ISBN: 9780140280395
  • Imprint: Penguin General UK
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 352
  • RRP: $30.00

The Map That Changed the World

A Tale of Rocks, Ruin and Redemption




Following the hugely successful hardback, this extraordinary tale of the father of modern geology looks set to be the non fiction paperback for 2002. Hidden behind velvet curtains above a stairway in a house in London's Piccadilly is an enormous and beautiful hand-coloured map - the first geological map of anywhere in the world. Its maker was a farmer's son named William Smith. Born in 1769 his life was beset by troubles: he was imprisoned for debt, turned out of his home, his work was plagiarised, his wife went insane and the scientific establishment shunned him. It was not until 1829, when a Yorkshire aristocrat recognised his genius, that he was returned to London in triumph: The Map That Changed the World is his story.

  • Published: 4 July 2002
  • ISBN: 9780140280395
  • Imprint: Penguin General UK
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 352
  • RRP: $30.00

About the author

Simon Winchester

Simon Winchester was born and educated in England. He was a foreign correspondent for more than thirty years includng twelve years for the Guardian in Asia, reporting on the Hong Kong handover to China for the newspaper in 1997, and twenty years as the Asia editor for Condé Nast Traveler. He is the author of many highly acclaimed and bestsellng works of non-fiction. He now lives in Massachusetts.

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