The presentation of data in the form of a map is as basic to geography as chronology is to history. The modern discipline of geography is, of course, much more than the study of maps. However, an ability to interpret maps, and the cognition of spatial patterns (termed, in ordinary language ‘a feel for maps’) are essential, basic skills that young geographers must acquire. Professional geographers and educationalists in Jamaica will, therefore, welcome Mike Morrissey’s recent text for school geography.
Emphasis in the book is on a cartographic appreciation of geographical patterns in Jamaica, and the basic format consists of thirty double-page units. Each unit contains material on a particular theme; generally a page of text outlines basic concepts and statistical information, and on the opposite page, maps and diagrams display related material. The meticulous compilation of contemporary data, often from unpublished sources, and some innovative cartography have utility beyond the targeted audience of lower secondary students. The thirty units cover most aspects of the island’s geography, ordered fairly conventionally so that material on the physical base precedes descriptions of the human patterns which result from the way people use the land.