Map Worlds: A History of Women in Cartography

1
Introduction
Will van den Hoonaard

Introduces the sociological and cartographic contexts of the book, acquaints the reader to “Map Worlds” as a theoretical concept, and summarizes the methodological dimensions of the study.  

2
Who is a Cartographer?
Will van den Hoonaard
Considers the question of who is a cartographer from the perspective of cartographers themselves and in light of the technological transformation through the ages.
3
13th to 17th Century
Will van den Hoonaard
Highlights a history of women in cartography from the 13th to the 17th century, with a particular focus on the 16th and 17th centuries. Explores women as colourists, describes the major Houses of cartographic production, offers a unique view on the life span of cartographers, and delves into the economic function of intermarriages among the major and minor cartographic houses and families.
4
18th and 19th Century
Will van den Hoonaard
Explores the social facets of the map trades.  Discusses the participation of women cartographers in France, Norway, England, the United States of America, and Canada in the 18th and 19th century.  
5
North America
Will van den Hoonaard
Speaks to “Mapping Maids”/”Millie the Mapper” as the major turning point in drawing women to cartography.  Highlights the important work of Marie Tharp, eight other American academic cartographers, and several Canadian women cartographers.
6
Europe, Latin America, and Asia
Will van den Hoonaard
Focuses on the continents of Europe, Latin America, and Asia where one finds women who significantly shaped cartography as map librarians, practitioners, oceanographers, lunar mappers, and developers of tactile maps.
7
"Getting There Without Aiming at it": Women's Experiences in Becoming Cartographers
Will van den Hoonaard
Describes women’s getting that first spark of interest in cartography, the formative years, entering the profession, the twists and turns of the career path, and identifying moments.
8
"We are Good Ghosts!": Orientations and Expectations of Women Cartographers
Will van den Hoonaard
Explores how women reconcile the beauty and usefulness of maps, and analyzes the importance of relationships at work and the art of “walking on boundaries.”
9
Educational Opportunities and Obstacles
Will van den Hoonaard
Sets out, in general, the situation of women in technical fields. Presents a case study of a major international cartographic educational institution. Delves into the expectations, rewards, and mentorship of women cartographers.
10
The Gendered Social Organization
Will van den Hoonaard
Explores women in cartography-related organizations and traces the evolution of gender issues in cartographic associations, notable the Commission on Gender and Cartography of the International Cartographic Association.
11
Female Pathways Through the Present-Day Map World
Will van den Hoonaard
Outlines the challenges that women cartographers face in their careers. Explores the  pathways through (in)equality. Probes the relativity of gender issues in developing and developed countries.
12
The Changing Faces of Map Worlds
Will van den Hoonaard
Brings the analysis back to the involvement of women in cartography in terms of the role of technology as both arbiter and handmaiden.

Map Worlds plots a journey of discovery through the world of women map-makers from the golden age of cartography in the sixteenth-century Low Countries to tactile maps in contemporary Brazil.

Author Will C. van den Hoonaard examines the history of women in the profession, sets out the situation of women in technical fields and cartography-related organizations, and outlines the challenges they face in their careers. Map Worlds explores women as colourists in early times, describes the major houses of cartographic production, and delves into the economic function of intermarriages among cartographic houses and families. It relates how in later centuries, working from the margins, women produced maps to record painful tribal memories or sought to remedy social injustices. Much later, one woman so changed the way we think about continents that the shift has been likened to the Copernican revolution. Other women created order and wonder about the lunar landscape, and still others turned the art and science of making maps inside out, exposing the hidden, unconscious, and subliminal “text” of maps. Shared by all these map-makers are themes of social justice and making maps work for the betterment of humanity.