Over the past four decades, the volumes published in the landmark History of Cartography series have both chronicled and encouraged scholarship about maps and mapping practices across time and space. As the current director of the project that has produced these volumes, Matthew H. Edney has a unique vantage point for understanding what “cartography” has come to mean and include.
In this book Edney disavows the term cartography, rejecting the notion that maps represent an undifferentiated category of objects for study. Rather than treating maps as a single, unified group, he argues, scholars need to take a processual approach that examines specific types of maps—sea charts versus thematic maps, for example—in the context of the unique circumstances of their production, circulation, and consumption. To illuminate this bold argument, Edney chronicles precisely how the ideal of cartography that has developed in the West since 1800 has gone astray. By exposing the flaws in this ideal, his book challenges everyone who studies maps and mapping practices to reexamine their approach to the topic. The study of cartography will never be the same.

《"非科学"的中国传统舆图:中国传统舆图绘制研究》内容有：《元和郡县图志》《太平寰宇记》和《元丰九域志》中的“四至八到”；明清方志中的“四至八到”；“制图六体”在中国地图绘制史中影响力的分析；对“计里画方”在中国地图绘制史中地位的重新评价；宋元方志中所记“四至八到”的性质等。

这是一本简洁、有趣、令人愉快的地图学史著作。
本书会拥有广泛的读者群，他们希望有一本简洁、有趣、令人愉快的地图学史著作。
――《地理杂志》这是一本出色的地理知识总汇，任何对地图学发展感兴趣的读者一定希望拥有一本作为手边书。
――《大地测量学》此书的每一页都饶有兴味，都会引发读者新的思考。
――《国际地图收藏者协会杂志》这是一本最为重要的单卷本地图学史综合性著作，……此书应当成为对地图感兴趣的人的亲密伴侣。
――《墨卡托》这是一本经典的地图史著作，简明扼要，可满足广大专业及非专业人士的兴趣。
这是一本关于地图发展的简明扼要的、经典的历史叙述，作者诺曼·思罗尔勾勒了地图与历史间亲密的联系，并运用了大量的插图——包括古代的著名地图到运用地理信息系统绘制成的当代地图，多方阐明了从历史时期到今天人类文化在如何解读空间关系。 08年版是本书的第三次修订版，包含了大量的内容修订，补充了新的材料，包括一个参考书目。