A lot of what we get here for review are dry, academic texts, technical manuals, and stuff like that. But Mapping Hacks is none of those things: it's a guide to extreme map geekery for the cartonerds of the world, a über-text for GIS analysts, programmers and anyone else interested in mapping or geographic imaging. In short, it's pure awesome.

I wrote a bit about this book earlier, before I had a chance to properly sit down and read it, but it requires - nay, it demands - further praise. Schuyler Erle, Rich Gibson and Jo Walsh, the authors, have made a technical book that is not technical; they've made a manual that is automatic; they've made a really fun and interesting book on a subject whose instruction manuals are far too often boring and dry.

The pursuit of precision in mapmaking has and (as the scope of our territory, in macro and micro scale, gets larger and larger) always will continue to grow. With interactive and accessible technologies finally coming into their own, cartography is entering the mainstream. As everyone noticed when Google Earth hit the virtual newsstands recently, the implementation of these technologies gets oohs and aahs from the most jaded GIS analyst and the least experienced novice. This book will help your own work get those same stares - and not just because you chose a color scheme that actually causes physical pain and eye-bleeding yet again.

This book can easily replace a good portion of the cartography textbooks out there, because it's not just a compendium of tips and tricks; it's a manual for an entire discipline, illustrating everything from basic concepts to history and the many possible futures of this science and craft. You'll learn where to find the best sources for geodata, how to integrate accurate and scalable data into your own work, and how to make the finished product useful, accessible and attractive. Learn all kinds of neat and useful tricks for interpreting and working with data, and for using that data in tandem with a wide range of technologies - from web APIs, GPS, photography, navigation and wayfinding systems, mobile phones and more.

Whether you make maps for a living or a hobby, or just want to learn how to integrate maps into your own work (or just want to learn to make simple maps for your own personal entertainment), this is the book for you. I recommend it highly and without reservation.