The insights, discoveries and theories of great geographers and geopolitical thinkers of the past look back at critical pivotal events in history and then look forward at the evolving global scene.

"Mankind is reengineering the planet, investing up to ten trillion dollars per year in transportation, energy, and communications infrastructure linking the worlds burgeoning megacities together. This has profound consequences for geopolitics, economics, demographics, the environment, and social identity. Connectivity, not geography, is our destiny. Khanna argues that new energy discoveries and technologies have eliminated the need for resource wars;...

Gary Fuller's entertaining and engaging guide enhances geographic know-how with good, old-fashioned fun, using trivia to open up new worlds of knowledge for all readers. Often dismissed as unimportant, trivia here highlights issues that are far from trivial, pondering, for example, what peaceful country requires citizens to keep guns in their homes? what continent contains at least 75 percent of the world's fresh water? and why aren't New York, Los...

Presents detailed maps of the world, covering geographical features, important places, and information about countries and regions.

It's been nearly four decades since Carl Sagan first addressed the general public from a scientist's perspective, confronting the possibility of extraterrestrial life. We've learned a lot in those years, and planetary scientist David Grinspoon is well prepared to explore this field with a new generation of readers. In Lonely Planets, Grinspoon investigates the big questions: How widespread are life and intelligence in the cosmos? Is life on Earth...

A thoughtful analysis of how our world's borders came to be and why we may be emerging from a lengthy period of "cartographical stasis" What is a country? While certain basic tenets-such as the clear demarcation of a country's borders, and the acknowledgment of its sovereignty by other countries and by international governing bodies like the United Nations-seem applicable, journalist Joshua Keating's book explores exceptions to these rules, including...

Comparing the world population to a village of 100 persons, the author reveals such facts as the languages of the village, how much each earns, if the person is literate, has a television and has enough to eat.

An international exploration of how our physical environments shape and define us.

Examines the way in which China's geography has influenced its social, economic, and political structure.