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Nature 450, 796 (6 December 2007) | doi:10.1038/450796b; Published online 5 December 2007

Science in culture

Martin Kemp

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Cartography and power have long gone hand in hand, as this pilgrimage plan illustrates.

The politics of mappingMaps exercise a fascination — it is reassuring and even commanding to be able to locate ourselves and others from a kind of God's-eye perspective. To misquote Descartes, "I am mapped, therefore I am.