Ways of the World: A History of the World’s Roads and of the Vehicles That Used Them by Maxwell G. Lay

Abstract

608 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE J. E. Schwartzberg opens a hitherto little-known field of astro­ nomic and geographic cartography through an important collection of South Asian and especially Indian maps. This is pioneer work, and he admits that the uninitiated will have difficulty in perceiving their cartographic content. They are neither based on surveys nor drawn to any scale transposed from available mathematical-astronomical knowledge. Although rather uneven, this book clarifies obscure aspects of cartog­ raphy and differences among some historically important civilizations. It is evident that there is no direct connection between the earliest European sea charts and contemporary charts from the Islamic and Indian world. Yet the rudiments ofWestern cartography—visible for the first time in the so-called Ptolemaic charts and portulan maps—are based on mathematical and astronomical methods worked out by Islamic scientists who in turn relied on Hellenistic writings. The origins of a specific European cartography can no longer be sought in another civilization; the problem is an interdisciplinary one to be addressed by historians of science and technology. This volume is immensely valuable in the search; and the entire Chicago series on the history of cartogra­ phy will be indispensable. Uta Lindgren Dr. Lindgren teaches at the University of Bayreuth. Ways ofthe World: A History ofthe World’ s Roads and of the Vehicles That Used Them. By Maxwell G. Lay. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1992. Pp. xix+401; illustrations, tables, notes, bibliography, index. $50.00. Treatises on wheeled vehicles exist in vast profusion, yet few books have given extended consideration to the surfaces on which they have traveled. This gap is admirably filled by M. G. Lay’s W/ys of the World. From the earliest footpaths to the modern freeway system, Lay presents a multifaceted study of road systems; how they were designed, built, and financed. A chapter is devoted to bridges and their design and construc­ tion. Throughout, considerable attention is given to the people who made it all possible. Although largely a historical narrative, the author also presents many useful quantitative measures, some of them com­ parative: the pulling force of horses compared to men, the accident rate of horses compared to automobiles, and the “relative number of loads of mud” and “filth rating” of different road surfaces. Considerably less space is devoted to the vehicles that rolled down these roads. There is a fair amount of material on vehicles drawn by human and animal power, and one chapter is devoted to vehicles powered by inanimate sources of energy, but for the most part the TECHNOLOGYAND CULTURE Book Reviews 609 narrative stops in the early 20th century. This is not a serious shortcom­ ing; given the plethora ofworks on cars and trucks there is little need to recapitulate. Still, more might have been said about the vehicles that built the roads. Except for a bit on road rollers, there is very little on the heavy equipment that has been so important to road construction during the present century. Conceptually, the books falls short by not completely delivering on its promise to trace the “interplays between society and its transporta­ tion system” (p. 2). Although there is some discussion of government efforts to finance road construction and maintenance, as well as a final-chapter discussion of broad social trends and their influence on road design and location, the reader will have to go elsewhere for a systematic presentation of how government policies and programs have shaped the historical evolution of roads and the vehicles that traveled on them. Adding considerably to the book’s appeal is a wealth of illustrations and diagrams that many readers will take some time to study, such as road cross sections and diagrams of the structural stresses on bridges. Almost worth the price of the book is a photograph from the 1880s that depicts three men and some simple paraphernalia demonstrating the forces holding up the Firth of Forth Bridge (p. 293). In the course of presenting his history, Lay provides us with some fascinating snippets: not until 1926 did cars outnumber carriages in Great Britain; before Mussolini, Italian drivers kept to the right in most locales, but to the left...