Discover the epic history of human exploration and migration, and the stories of fearless pioneers the world over, with this stunning tour of history - map by map.

Charting everything from the movement of early Homo species out of Africa some 1.8 million years ago to the astonishing voyages of Polynesian sailors across the Pacific from 4,000 BCE, and from the California Gold Rush to the Race for Space, entries explain the movements of people and cultures who set off into the unknown - in search of adventure or a better life.

Specially commissioned maps show the key driving factors of each journey, and why certain routes were chosen over others - whether due to climate, terrain, or territory - while stunning contemporary examples offer fascinating insights into the unique world-views and political motivations of the people who commissioned them, and the cartographers who created them.

The voyages of history’s greatest explorers - from Zheng He to Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo - are brought to vivid life with accompanying photos, illustrations, and original artefacts, along with recent missions to chart the depths of the oceans and the surface of Mars. And entries also explore the experiences of established Indigenous groups and the impact of settler populations.

Packed with fascinating detail and bursting with lavish illustrations, Exploration: Map by Map is a must-have title for anyone who loves maps, history, or the pioneering spirit.

Understanding earth systems and its dynamic behavior requires objective insights into the complex observational data sets and their interrelationships. Drawing meaningful inferences from such data is not always an easy task as the deterministic relationships between various geological variables often remain obscured. These interrelationships need to be determined empirically through the analysis of a large set of data and validated through numerical simulations. The ever widening horizon of techniques of numerical analysis and simulation now provides a good number of tools to aid the interpretation. However, due to the inherent complexity of earth science data, expert supervision is required at all stages of analysis from collection to dissemination. This ensures that the most appropriate methodology is adopted and the results remain consistent with the geological principles. Discussions on these practical issues often lie beyond the scope of textbooks and this is precisely where this book is placed. In this book eminent geoscientists present their experiences in analyzing and managing earth science data as well as in designing numerical models to simulate earth processes. Apart from giving a discourse of their own approach towards a particular research problem they also discuss at length the relative merits of alternative methodologies. These seven authoritative articles, richly illustrated, will be a valuable resource for research students and professionals interested in research and teaching in various branches of earth science like, tectonics, GPS geodesy, sedimentology, geographical information science, and evolutionary biology.