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mephelan's review
5.0
Really enjoyed this and learned a lot! I was expecting a shallow pop science history, but Bond goes in depth into the neuroscience of path finding and sense of direction. Great chapters on how kids navigate their world and links between Alzheimer's/dementia and sense of place.
josiegjackson's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Superb! Would recommend if you previously enjoyed books about how the brain works! As a non expert on this, the author is not afraid of detailed language but clear enough for me to understand.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty
archytas's review against another edition
3.5
There have been a rush of books recently about navigation and the brain. Including, rather confusingly Wayfinding The Science and Mystery of How Humans Navigate the World by M.R. O'Connor, released about 18 months before this one. This is a great trend, and did mean I was already familiar with most of the substantial examples - many of which are taken from Indigenous Navigation - Inuit hunting techniques, Pasifika navigation, the Guggu Yumithir use of cardinal points in language - and others include the London Tube Map, the tragic case of Geraldine Largay who died on the Appalachian Trail and the pernicious effect of GPS on the brain. I was wary, in this sense, going in that this book would simply retread ground already covered, but Bond quickly disarmed me with a strong dive into explaining the neural mechanisms of our sense of place - grid cells and boundary neurons. Bond has a clear style of explanation and does not shy away from the harder science content.
Bond also tackles the question of gendered differences in navigation at more length than I had read elsewhere - he takes a firm 'too much social noise to identify biological difference ' line and his focus on the neuroscience also means much of the material looking at how our overall cognitions is affected by being lost and disoriented has been the most memorable for me. Bond's clear empathy with Alzheimer's sufferers, whose desire to 'wander' he argues is a way of managing an ever shifting sense of space, and sections on nursing home design could have been digressions but formed much of the heart of the book. This were enhanced by discussions about how different demographics deal with being lost - and the fact that we all tend to panic move, when we should stay still.
His sections comparing London (a city with landmarks so recognisable you always know where you are, but almost impossible to work out how to get elsewhere) to Manhatten (a city on a grid easy to theoretically to move, but very hard to orient yourself in) and the subsequent different methods of street navigation were engrossing.
I'm not sure I'd recommend this as the first stop for those less interested in reading about neurons - Bond has not deeply consulted with Indigenous peoples in the book, and so this material is inevitably more light on compared with the aforementioned Wayfinding by MR O'Connor, and also Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia, and he doesn't look beyond human cognition - Incredible Journeys: Exploring the Wonders of Animal Navigation covers both human and non-human systems, but I find myself strongly recommending all of this ouvre for understanding a little more what it is to be human in this world. In particular, I am struck by how we have redefined, as a Western society, intelligence in terms of what we need to develop, use, manage and explore technology. Elements of intelligence such as memory, navigation, observation and contextual problem solving are not well measured in IQ tests, and are generally understood to have declined in tech-heavy societies. Not only can this pose a racist lens to discussions about intelligence, but it might bode ill for our survival in case of a technology collapse - something much more palpable after a simple virus has stopped the world, that it might have seemed before.
Bond also tackles the question of gendered differences in navigation at more length than I had read elsewhere - he takes a firm 'too much social noise to identify biological difference ' line and his focus on the neuroscience also means much of the material looking at how our overall cognitions is affected by being lost and disoriented has been the most memorable for me. Bond's clear empathy with Alzheimer's sufferers, whose desire to 'wander' he argues is a way of managing an ever shifting sense of space, and sections on nursing home design could have been digressions but formed much of the heart of the book. This were enhanced by discussions about how different demographics deal with being lost - and the fact that we all tend to panic move, when we should stay still.
His sections comparing London (a city with landmarks so recognisable you always know where you are, but almost impossible to work out how to get elsewhere) to Manhatten (a city on a grid easy to theoretically to move, but very hard to orient yourself in) and the subsequent different methods of street navigation were engrossing.
I'm not sure I'd recommend this as the first stop for those less interested in reading about neurons - Bond has not deeply consulted with Indigenous peoples in the book, and so this material is inevitably more light on compared with the aforementioned Wayfinding by MR O'Connor, and also Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia, and he doesn't look beyond human cognition - Incredible Journeys: Exploring the Wonders of Animal Navigation covers both human and non-human systems, but I find myself strongly recommending all of this ouvre for understanding a little more what it is to be human in this world. In particular, I am struck by how we have redefined, as a Western society, intelligence in terms of what we need to develop, use, manage and explore technology. Elements of intelligence such as memory, navigation, observation and contextual problem solving are not well measured in IQ tests, and are generally understood to have declined in tech-heavy societies. Not only can this pose a racist lens to discussions about intelligence, but it might bode ill for our survival in case of a technology collapse - something much more palpable after a simple virus has stopped the world, that it might have seemed before.
thebreakfastbooks's review against another edition
4.0
When was the last time you strolled aimlessly through an unfamiliar place ? Or tried to find your way without following the blue dot on Google maps? (While safely distancing of course.)
In Wayfinding, Michael Bond details what spatial cognition is and how it has shaped humanity for the past thousand years. He goes into the latest neuroscientific research, describing what is currently known about how rodent's brains (and supposedly also ours) process space. And, equally important, how this spatial code is relevant for anchoring us in our lives and our memories. He goes further, by tying navigating, wayfinding and exploring into a much bigger picture, namely the history of humanity. I loved the chapters in which he takes a look at how languages and social interaction revolve so much around exchanging knowledge about our surroundings.
This topic is very dear to me, as it is closely related to the research I do. I was so happy to see how the authors doesn't gloss over more complex aspects - there's nothing better than a popular science book that explains the facts well, rather than making bold claims that the people behind the research would shake their heads about. Even better, he shows how areas of research can span so many different disciplines - in Wayfinding it's not just about the basic science but also how this knowledge could be used for prevention of Alzheimer's and dementia, and aids with rescue searches of lost persons. And how often helpful technology like GPS might make us lazy at exploration and wayfinding - behaviours that have been driving currents in the history of humanity.
In Wayfinding, Michael Bond details what spatial cognition is and how it has shaped humanity for the past thousand years. He goes into the latest neuroscientific research, describing what is currently known about how rodent's brains (and supposedly also ours) process space. And, equally important, how this spatial code is relevant for anchoring us in our lives and our memories. He goes further, by tying navigating, wayfinding and exploring into a much bigger picture, namely the history of humanity. I loved the chapters in which he takes a look at how languages and social interaction revolve so much around exchanging knowledge about our surroundings.
This topic is very dear to me, as it is closely related to the research I do. I was so happy to see how the authors doesn't gloss over more complex aspects - there's nothing better than a popular science book that explains the facts well, rather than making bold claims that the people behind the research would shake their heads about. Even better, he shows how areas of research can span so many different disciplines - in Wayfinding it's not just about the basic science but also how this knowledge could be used for prevention of Alzheimer's and dementia, and aids with rescue searches of lost persons. And how often helpful technology like GPS might make us lazy at exploration and wayfinding - behaviours that have been driving currents in the history of humanity.
tonstantweader's review
5.0
From Here to There: The Art and Science of Finding and Losing Our Way is a fascinating exploration of how we learn to find our way as children and how we may risk unlearning it from lack of use thanks to GPS or from the damage of Alzheimer’s Disease. Through that arc of life, Bond explores the different ways we think about finding our way and what parts of the brain are likely to be involved.
I recently read “The Address Book” by Deirdre Mask. In it, Mask wrote about legible cities and the idea fascinated me, so when I learned of From Here to There, I just had to read it. It did not disappoint one little bit. It began by looking at how we wander and how the exploratory freedom has been whittled away over recent generations. This is a bit of a personal hobbyhorse and I feel sad for kids who don’t have the freedom to run about all over as I used to do.
Bond also explains how this all plays out in our heads. He is scrupulous in separating what is known from what is surmised and explains how scientists know what they know and why they think what they think.
He also writes about getting lost and how so much of being lost is the panic of realizing you don’t know where you are. It was illuminating for me. I have never felt lost. I have occasionally not know where I was but knew how to know without difficulty. He also writes about some of the extraordinary navigators and how they are so good at what they do. It boils down to two words, pay attention. He also talks about city design and how it can make a city legible (Paris) or not (London) and even how that applies to architecture and buildings such as the beautiful Seattle Library that is lovely to look at and notoriously difficult to navigate.
The final chapters focus on the losses of Alzheimer’s and how we might be undergoing our hippocampus now we have GPS. What are the implications there – and what might exercising our hippocampus do for us.
I really loved From Here to There a lot. It’s a fascinating subject and while I felt a bit in the weeds learning about the different cells and where they were hiding, even when it was the most technical, it was easy enough to understand. It would have been nice to have the illustrations right in place rather than having to flip back to look, but that’s just picking nits in an excellent book.
I love the way Bond writes about the wayfinding. You can tell he loves the topic and is passionate about it. I also love how he finds illustrations from real life to explain the concepts. He makes even the more abstracted information understandable and interesting. He has a way of bringing science back to the people and how it interacts with their lives.
I received a copy of From Here to There: The Art and Science of Finding and Losing Our Way from the publisher for review.
From Here to There: The Art and Science of Finding and Losing Our Way at Harvard University Press
Michael Bond author site
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2020/06/26/9780674244573/
I recently read “The Address Book” by Deirdre Mask. In it, Mask wrote about legible cities and the idea fascinated me, so when I learned of From Here to There, I just had to read it. It did not disappoint one little bit. It began by looking at how we wander and how the exploratory freedom has been whittled away over recent generations. This is a bit of a personal hobbyhorse and I feel sad for kids who don’t have the freedom to run about all over as I used to do.
Bond also explains how this all plays out in our heads. He is scrupulous in separating what is known from what is surmised and explains how scientists know what they know and why they think what they think.
He also writes about getting lost and how so much of being lost is the panic of realizing you don’t know where you are. It was illuminating for me. I have never felt lost. I have occasionally not know where I was but knew how to know without difficulty. He also writes about some of the extraordinary navigators and how they are so good at what they do. It boils down to two words, pay attention. He also talks about city design and how it can make a city legible (Paris) or not (London) and even how that applies to architecture and buildings such as the beautiful Seattle Library that is lovely to look at and notoriously difficult to navigate.
The final chapters focus on the losses of Alzheimer’s and how we might be undergoing our hippocampus now we have GPS. What are the implications there – and what might exercising our hippocampus do for us.
I really loved From Here to There a lot. It’s a fascinating subject and while I felt a bit in the weeds learning about the different cells and where they were hiding, even when it was the most technical, it was easy enough to understand. It would have been nice to have the illustrations right in place rather than having to flip back to look, but that’s just picking nits in an excellent book.
I love the way Bond writes about the wayfinding. You can tell he loves the topic and is passionate about it. I also love how he finds illustrations from real life to explain the concepts. He makes even the more abstracted information understandable and interesting. He has a way of bringing science back to the people and how it interacts with their lives.
I received a copy of From Here to There: The Art and Science of Finding and Losing Our Way from the publisher for review.
From Here to There: The Art and Science of Finding and Losing Our Way at Harvard University Press
Michael Bond author site
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2020/06/26/9780674244573/
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