Through a lens of information design, art, and social history, Mapping Knowledge Across Time examines seven extraordinary books that transformed how humanity visualized and understood the world. Spanning continents and centuries, these books reveal striking patterns in how diverse cultures employed similar visual systems to embed complex knowledge within the book form. As our digital age increasingly distances us from these tangible artifacts, this book sheds important light on the enduring heritage of information design in the book arts and its relevance today.

The remarkable works placed under the microscope include: an Arabic cosmography from medieval Sicily; an exquisite Catalan mappamundi from Jewish Majorcan workshops; Germany's most elaborately illustrated early printed book; Ming dynasty scientific illustrations; an Amsterdam-produced atlas merging geography with history from Huguenot refugees; Humboldt-inspired German scientific visualizations; and culminates with a modernist Bauhaus-influenced American atlas integrating physical and social sciences. Each chapter meticulously analyzes how these works employed visual strategies to construct comprehensive worldviews, demonstrating the remarkable continuity and evolution of information design across cultures.

Mapping Knowledge Across Time: Seven Books which Visualized the World will be of great interest to readers of book history, information design, and visual culture, especially those seeking connections between historical visualization practices and contemporary information challenges. Art historians will value its analysis of cross-cultural visual systems, while historians of science will appreciate its examination of knowledge transmission through visual means. Students across disciplines will discover how these seven landmark works fundamentally shaped humanity's understanding of itself and its place in the cosmos.

"This masterwork of a history belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in maps, information design more broadly, and how language and representation make the world in which we live. It is a beautiful, richly illustrated, and thoughtful comparison of seven beautiful, richly illustrated, and thoughtful books — each of which attempted to describe the world of their culture and time. The author, Paul Kahn, may be our preeminent historian of information design. He brings a design practitioner's eye and considerable critical depth and scholarship to this massive undertaking. The book offers a masterclass for both design students and practitioners." --Hugh Dubberly, Principal of Dubberly Design Office, Senior Adjunct Professor, California College of the Arts (CCA)

"Paul Kahn, wise sage of information design, goes deep into the roots of visual communication with his review of some of the greatest images of data humanity has ever produced. He brings us deep into fantastic books our fast-moving era has sadly forgotten. This book takes us way farther than anywhere you’ll go on the internet." --David Rothenberg, author of SECRET SOUNDS OF PONDS and THE POSSIBILITY OF REDDISH GREEN

Paul Kahn is an information designer and author whose engagement with visualization of large knowledge structures began with hypertext research at Brown University in the 1980s. Throughout his career he has specialized in visual techniques for describing information. He led Dynamic Diagrams in Providence Rhode Island, Kahn+Associates in France, and was Experience Design Director at Mad*Pow in Boston. His teaching included the Information Design and Data Visualization program at Northeastern University; Docent at Media Lab, Aalto University; and instructor in information architecture at several digital media programs in Paris.