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Where Am I

Average rating: 5/5

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Where Am I

by Colin Ellard

Harpercollins Canada, Limited | April 13, 2009 | Hardcover

How do you get from here to there? Where is there? Psychologist Colin Ellard demonstrates that navigating through space is both complex and utterly fascinating. Beginning with the neurological and muscular coordination involved in the simple act of reaching for an object, he then investigates our interaction with space -- how near and distant landmarks, for example, are used differently in navigation. From the complex behaviour of insects to the epic journeys of sea turtles, from the subtle knowledge of the environment demonstrated by such famed navigators as the Inuit and South Pacific sailors to the conceptual worlds of cyberspace, Where Am I? reveals just how deeply our unique relationship with space defines what it means to be human.


But Ellard also takes his argument a step further to show that the uniquely human ability to visualize and partition space has led to an increasing disconnection from the natural world. Architects and city planners, he suggests, need to consider human behaviour when constructing human environments, and we all need to recognize that we are part of, not isolated from, the space around us. Where Am I? is an absorbing, compulsively readable study of the power of space in our lives.

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Reviews

    • Was this review
      helpful to you?

    Rating: 3/5

    Why do I still get lost?

    Christine L

    • Most Helpful

    3 years ago

    WHERE AM I? Why We Can Find Our Way to the Moon but Get Lost in the Mall
    By
    Colin Ellard

    My reasons for choosing this book to review were very personal; I am extremely "directionally challenged" and Colin Ellard is a local author for me. Interestingly enough, I read this book while I was traveling.

    This book starts out with an amusing anecdote about getting lost while on a camping trip and then moves into the mechanics of how navigation through both time and space is learned, perceived and negotiated.

    Being prepared for a text book type read, this reader was pleasantly surprised. WHERE AM I is obviously a well researched book and is filled with facts presented in a logical and entertaining way. This book examines travel in every form, from negotiating our own homes to traveling the world and right through the mysterious world of cyberspace. It looks at how all life forms manage to navigate through their life-space and why some are more adept at it than others.

    Colin Ellard is an experimental psychologist at the University of Waterloo, Ontario. It is encouraging to me that admits he still gets lost in his (and my) home town of Kitchener, Ontario. This book held my attention through a turbulent plane ride back to Canada, and despite the information presented, I still managed to "misplace" my car in the Park and Fly parking lot.

    Comments on this review:
    Cindy L

    It might be a good read for me, I have an excellent sense of direction, but often when I am giving directions, I will say something like if you turn left you will be heading South, and people are confused. I don't understand it, so it might be interesting to see things from another point of view.

Details

From the Publisher

How do you get from here to there? Where is there? Psychologist Colin Ellard demonstrates that navigating through space is both complex and utterly fascinating. Beginning with the neurological and muscular coordination involved in the simple act of reaching for an object, he then investigates our interaction with space -- how near and distant landmarks, for example, are used differently in navigation. From the complex behaviour of insects to the epic journeys of sea turtles, from the subtle knowledge of the environment demonstrated by such famed navigators as the Inuit and South Pacific sailors to the conceptual worlds of cyberspace, Where Am I? reveals just how deeply our unique relationship with space defines what it means to be human.


But Ellard also takes his argument a step further to show that the uniquely human ability to visualize and partition space has led to an increasing disconnection from the natural world. Architects and city planners, he suggests, need to consider human behaviour when constructing human environments, and we all need to recognize that we are part of, not isolated from, the space around us. Where Am I? is an absorbing, compulsively readable study of the power of space in our lives.

About the Author

Colin Ellard is an experimental psychologist at the University of Waterloo, the director of its Research Laboratory for Immersive Virtual Environments and an international expert in the psychology of navigation. The results of his research in the areas of animal behaviour, cognitive mapping, human navigation and neuroscience have been published in scientific journals for more than 20 years. Colin Ellard lives and regularly gets lost in Kitchener, Ontario. Visit the author at colinellard.com.

Hardcover

6.5 x 9.38 x 1.32 in

April 13, 2009

Harpercollins Canada, Limited

English


1554683939
9781554683932

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