Through history

How we picture the world can have a massive impact on how we react to events in it, as these eight examples show

Amazing maps that reveal our changing view of the world

As Thomas Reinertsen Berg explores in his new book, Theatre of the World, for as long as human beings have been drawing maps of our surroundings we have been trying to envisage our landscapes from above. Long before we had access to the skies, long before we had technology that could accurately track topography, we have attempted to give ourselves a top-down perspective of the planet to better understand our place within it. And as the cartographers came to understand the shape of the world more and more, so they also attempted to tell the story of the world through their depictions.

Whether guided by religion, political interest or artistic expression, the planet has not always been a consistently understood landscape. Its representations have often been motivated by external factors and interests, colouring the sense of the world for those who lived in those times and were exposed to such imagery.

Here we’ve picked examples of maps and cartographic works from Berg’s new book, which illustrate that idea and show how our approach to cartography has greatly evolved over the centuries and helps to illustrate the experience of discovery as well as what has been discovered.