Review of Cartographies of Danger— Mapping Hazards in America by Mark Monmonier

Abstract

Mark Monmonier, Professor of Geography at Syracuse University, has written a dense yet witty book about the mapping of hazards in America. His language is plain, at times even colloquial, yet never lacking scientific rigor. The titles of his chapters, ‘‘Shaky Preparations,’’ ‘‘Lavas and Other Strangers,’’ and ‘‘Ill Winds,’’ among others, attest to that plain and witty style. Cartographies of Danger is not only about hazards mapping. It is also about ‘‘...organizing vast amounts of information for making decisions about land use and emergency preparedness...’’ ~Preface by the author!. Monmonier has organized his book according to the terms hazardous geographic environments and analyzed each of them as follows: The noun environments reflects the book’s cartographic approach. The adjective geographic excludes ‘‘...such personal or workplace hazards as unsafe sex, smoking and flammable construction materials...,’’ which he calls ‘‘...nongeographical hazards... .’’ Finally, the adjective hazardous covers ‘‘...not only massive, comparatively rare disasters...’’ but also ‘‘...more subtly dangerous, widespread, and persistent phenomena, such as air pollution and hazardous waste... .’’ The book begins with a very clear description of cartographic scales. This is a relevant feature given the general lack of understanding—even by engineers and scientists—of what scales are and how they should be chosen and used. Then it goes on to cover natural and technological hazards mapping including earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, groundwater contamination, air pollution, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, and nuclear power hazards. A special comment should be made about Chapter 9, entitled ‘‘Short-Lived Daughters and ELF Fields.’’ It covers such controversial hazards as indoor radon contaminations and extremely low-frequency magnetic fields, two largely ignored subjects when covering technological or man-made hazards. Cartographies of Danger is a welcome addition to the libraries of those concerned with hazards mapping and emergency planning.