Map junkies rejoice! Derek Hayes, author of Historical Atlas of the Pacific Northwest, delivers another stunning atlas filled with stories of explorations and exquisite historical maps. Over five hundred years of maps depicting the North Pacific Ocean and the lands that border it -- the United States, Canada, Alaska, Russia, Japan, Korea, and China -- have been collected into this new atlas. From antique maps of the sixteenth century to modern satellite images, this volume covers all the major explorations, such as Magellan, Bering, Cook, and Vancouver; Perry's opening of Japan; and the U.S. North Pacific Exploring Expedition. It also includes modern maps that use the latest technology to show ocean currents, fault lines, and the seabed in astounding detail.

How early did the Chinese explore the world? Did the Treasure Fleets, led by Admiral Zheng He, discover many parts of the world before Christopher Columbus? While it is known that Christopher Columbus discovered America and Europe ushered in the Age of Discovery, there is an ongoing debate on the 'unknown' areas depicted in Western maps from the period and earlier. There is agreement among scholars that certain areas seem to have been mapped out prior to the arrival of Western explorers.Chinese Global Exploration in the Pre-Columbian Era: Evidence from an Ancient World Map analyses the world's first modern map — known as Kunyu Wanguo Quantu (KWQ) 《坤輿萬國全圖》 in Chinese, translated as the 'Complete Geographical Map of All Kingdoms of the World' to demonstrate evidence of Chinese global exploration in the Pre-Columbian era. The map of concern was first printed by Italian missionary, Matteo Ricci in 1602, and has been purported to be of entirely European origin, based on Ricci's former maps which he had brought to China in 1582.This book, thus, seeks to be transformational in presenting essential new insights on Pre-Columbian world history and Chinese global exploration, moving away from the norm of the studies of geography and cartography by:

In pictures and text, these working oceanographers explain such key facets of marine science as the Wegener theroy of continental drift, the interlocking food "chains" that support life in the oceans, the mechanics of waves and tides, and the distribution of elements in seawater.

This book on the Geography of R?m?ya?a is a sequel to the book Rivers of ?gveda (ISBN 979-8-88530-307-1) which focused on the Geography of ?gveda. This book will be followed by an upcoming book on the Geography of Mah?bh?rata, thus completing a trilogy on the geochronology of Bh?ratavar?a. This book focus on the cities, towns, villages, kingdoms, regions, forests, mountain ranges, mountain peaks, rivers and lakes of V?lm?ki R?m?ya?a. It highlights the Geography of Bh?ratavar?a as known to R?ma, V?lm?ki, Agastya and others who lived in the R?ma Era. The book strictly adhere to the geographical data present in the Sa?sk?t ?lokas of V?lm?ki R?m?ya?a, and hence provides many surprising new insights on the Geography of R?m?ya?a.

The book traces the development of German acquaintance with the Malayan world and language as reflected in publications up to 1700. Beginning with a perusal of earliest cartographic renderings and a recapitulation of economic and political circumstances of German involvement in European Far-Eastern trade after 1500, the volume proceeds to systematically inspect 16th and 17th century German travellers' memoirs and translations of foreign sources. Relevant text passages are quoted in the original with English gloss. Citations of renderings of Malay items are accompanied by transliterations in modern spelling. Ultimate and intermediate sources and the routes by which various items reached the German public are followed, as well as virtual networks of information. Etymologies of numerous real or assumed Malayisms are elaborately reinspected, and corrected where necessary. The development in usage of the acquired Malayisms after 1700, reconstructed from entries in dictionaries and encyclopaedias and through direct quotation from German literature, is shown to reflect fluctuations in public attention towards features from exotic regions.

"An important and scholarly work; bringing together much information available heretofore only in scattered sources. Easily readable." — Gerald I. Alexander, F.R.G.S. Cartographer, Map Division, New York Public Library. The first authoritative history of maps and the men who made them. The historical coverage of this volume is immense: from the first two centuries A.D. — Strabo and Ptolemy — through the end of the 19th century, with some discussion of 20th-century developments. 86 illustrations. Extensive notes and bibliography. "Mr. Brown felicitously marries scholarship to narrative and dramatic skill." — Henry Steele Commager.

A re-reading of the Hindu classic, the Bhagavad Gita, a dialogue between Prince Arjuna and his charioteer Lord Krishna. This episode which occurs in the Sanskrit epic, The Mahabharata, is often read for its own sake and given the status of a holy scripture by Hindus. Reviews: "This is a brilliant book that I recommend wholeheartedly. It picks a central thought from each of the Bhagavad Gita's 18 chapters and uses that to communicate deep insights about life and meaning. People who wish to understand the Gita or other Vedic texts will love it, and it will also be useful to those who are experts." Professor Subhash Kak, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK "... Srinivasan's commentary is itself a gem. It combines an accessible, easy style of writing with a rigorous translation by a master of the Sanskrit language (and also includes the original Sanskrit text itself, for those with the ability to follow along and to come to their own conclusions regarding its meaning and import). Including references to earlier interpretations within the Hindu tradition, this work stands in a distinguished lineage of scriptural commentary.... I recommend it highly!" Professor Jeffery Long, Elizabethtown College, PA "This modest volume succeeds admirably in raising the right questions and pointing to insightful answers." Swami Tyagananda, Sri Ramakrishna Vedanta Society, Boston and Hindu Chaplain at MIT and Harvard. "Readers will surely benefit from a study of the book. There is an appendix to the book, containing the text of some earlier publications of the author. The book should certainly be prescribed reading for students, especially the children of non-resident Indians living outside India." Vedanta Kesari; May 2016