Notes and Comments on the Composition of Terrestrial and Celestial Maps (Esri Press Classics)

Notes and Comments on the Composition of Terrestrial and Celestial Maps is an historically significant work on modern map projections and their mathematical underpinnings. The original German edition introduced several distinct map projections still in use today and revealed the cartographic genius of author J.H. Lambert (1728-1777). In 1972, on the 200th anniversary of this seminal work, noted geographer Waldo R. Tobler published an English translation of Lambert’s writings, but it has been unavailable for several years. This new edition of the translation includes an expanded preface and reference section and a new biographical sketch of J.H. Lambert.

Johann Heinrich Lambert stepped beyond humble beginnings to walk among royalty and leading scholars of eighteenth-century Europe. Largely self-taught, he became one of the world’s preeminent mathematicians and cartographers, and he was among the first to address the general properties of map projections.

Waldo R. Tobler, a leading geographer, professor, cartographer, is a prolific author on the subject of map projections and computational geography.  He is professor emeritus in geography at the University of California Santa Barbara, and an Honorary Fellow of the American Geographical Society.