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Where Am I?
Why We Can Find Our Way to the Moon but Get Lost in the Mall
| Price: |
$32.95 |
| On Sale: |
13/04/2009 |
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Formats:
Hardcover
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How do you get from here
to there? Where is there? Psychologist Colin Ellard demonstrates that navigating
through space is both complex and utterly fascinating. Beginning with the
neurological and muscular coordination involved in the simple act of reaching
for an object, he then investigates our interaction with space -- how near and
distant landmarks, for example, are used differently in navigation. From the
complex behaviour of insects to the epic journeys of sea turtles, from the
subtle knowledge of the environment demonstrated by such famed navigators as the
Inuit and South Pacific sailors to the conceptual worlds of cyberspace, Where Am
I? reveals just how deeply our unique relationship with space defines what it
means to be human.
But
Ellard also takes his argument a step further to show that the uniquely human
ability to visualize and partition space has led to an increasing disconnection
from the natural world. Architects and city planners, he suggests, need to
consider human behaviour when constructing human environments, and we all need
to recognize that we are part of, not isolated from, the space around us.
Where Am I? is an absorbing, compulsively readable study of the power of
space in our lives.
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Author Extras
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Critical Praise for
Where Am I?
“This delightful, dense and illuminating book by Ellard, an experimental psychologist, explores how we navigate space and hone our sense of direction, despite being paradoxically spatially primitive and overly evolved. All animals, monocellular and multicellular alike, find their way to their basic needs—heat, light and nourishment—but while ants, for example, don't get lost and amoebas are guided by an ‘internal toolkit,’ most human beings face unique difficulties. Unlike the Inuit, who have a superb sense of direction, most people find that the more sophisticated their environments, the weaker their grasp of space and direction. Ellard offers insights into how humans navigate their own homes and why they select certain spots for refuge—preferences influenced by gender, culture and history. He emphasizes the importance of orienting children to natural space as well as ‘virtual spaces,’ and his chapter on cities serves as an excellent primer on urban planning and psycho-geography, the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographic environment on the emotions.” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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“Where Am I? is a powerful inquiry into how we humans orient ourselves in space and identify places both familiar and new. As an architect, and someone who loves the experiential qualities of three dimensional space, this book took me on a journey to places I’d never even considered before—such as how other creatures on this planet orient themselves, and why it is that our prodigious brain can invent worlds that far outstrip the abilities of our more primitive orienting sensory apparatus. It’s a stimulating and provocative read for anyone who’s looking for a better understanding of how we process the world around us and orient ourselves within our habitations and living environments.” -SARAH SUSANKA, AUTHOR OF THE NOT SO BIG HOUSE
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“Where Am I? is witty and engaging and crammed with profound insights. What’s more, it’s useful too: if you, or your keys, have ever got lost, Colin Ellard can tell you how it happened—and how to stop it happening again.”
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Michael Brooks, author of Thirteen Things That Don’t Make Sense
“Ants find their way back to their nest and bees to their hives with remarkable ease, and homing pigeons follow flight paths over incredible distances with uncanny accuracy, but humans seem to need a GPS to keep from getting lost in a mall. Colin Ellard not only delves into such phenomena with élan, he also introduces us to the world of navigational research, a world most of us don’t even know exists. Where Am I? is sure to direct you down some paths you’ve never explored before, and no, you won’t get lost.”
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Joe Schwarcz, PhD, author of An Apple a Day
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