Surveying And Democracy: How Mapping Shaped America

"Host Larry Mantle speaks with journalist and author Andro Linklater. Mr. Linklater’s new book, "Measuring America: How an Untamed Wilderness Shaped the United States and Fulfilled the Promise of Democracy" (Walker and Company), chronicles the task of surveying America. Consider how the grid of America looks from an aeroplane window versus how the patchwork of Europe looks from the air. There’s a reason for it, as Andro Linklater discovered in his research. The appeal of a book about weights and measures and surveying may seem puzzling at first, but Linklater’s story explains not only who mapped America, but how it was done and how America was settled accordingly."

Thanks to Abhijeet Chavan