At once far flung and intimate, a fascinating look at how finding our way make us human. "A marvel of storytelling." —Kirkus (Starred Review) In this compelling narrative, O'Connor seeks out neuroscientists, anthropologists and master navigators to understand how navigation ultimately gave us our humanity. Biologists have been trying to solve the mystery of how organisms have the ability to migrate and orient with such precision—especially since our own adventurous ancestors spread across the world without maps or instruments. O'Connor goes to the Arctic, the Australian bush and the South Pacific to talk to masters of their environment who seek to preserve their traditions at a time when anyone can use a GPS to navigate. O’Connor explores the neurological basis of spatial orientation within the hippocampus. Without it, people inhabit a dream state, becoming amnesiacs incapable of finding their way, recalling the past, or imagining the future. Studies have shown that the more we exercise our cognitive mapping skills, the greater the grey matter and health of our hippocampus. O'Connor talks to scientists studying how atrophy in the hippocampus is associated with afflictions such as impaired memory, dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease, depression and PTSD. Wayfinding is a captivating book that charts how our species' profound capacity for exploration, memory and storytelling results in topophilia, the love of place. "O'Connor talked to just the right people in just the right places, and her narrative is a marvel of storytelling on its own merits, erudite but lightly worn. There are many reasons why people should make efforts to improve their geographical literacy, and O'Connor hits on many in this excellent book—devouring it makes for a good start." —Kirkus Reviews

Arctic researcher, author, and photographer Norman Hallendy’s journey to the far north began in 1958, when many Inuit, who traditionally lived on the land, were moving to permanent settlements created by the Canadian government. In this unique memoir, Hallendy writes of his adventures, experiences with strange Arctic phenomena, encounters with wildlife, and deep friendships with Inuit elders. Very few have worked so closely with the Inuit to document their traditions, and, in this book, Hallendy preserves their voices and paints an incomparable portrait of a vibrant culture in a remote landscape.

From the pyramids of Giza to Stonehenge to Machu Picchu, people are captivated by the magic of the world’s most sacred and mysterious sites. Crystals and Sacred Sites teaches you how to tap into the healing energy of these sites from anywhere in the world using the power of crystals and sacred stones. Noted crystal authority Judy Hall takes you to the most revered sacred sites in the ancient world as well as newly discovered ones that are emerging as power points critical to our evolution as a planet. With the assistance of specially selected crystals and accompanying meditations and rituals, you can open the doorways to transformation and healing. Sacred sites featured in the book include: Inuksuk at the Circumpolar Regions Lake Louise, Banff, Alberta Mount Shasta, California Sedona, Arizona Pipestone, Minnesota 9/11 Memorial, New York Hiroshima Peace Memorial, Japan Newgrange, Boyne Valley, Ireland Glastonbury, England Stonehenge, England Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina Hajji Bektash Bervish Tekke, Hacibektas, Turkey Goree Island, Senegal The Great Pyramid, Cairo, Egypt Sekhmet Sanctuary, Luxor, Egypt The Hanging Gardens of Haifa, Israel Grand Mosque, Mecca, Saudi Arabia Mount Kailash, Tibet Narmada River, Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh, India Spring Temple Buddha, Lushan County, China Ise Shrine, Honshu Peninsula, Japan Uluru and Kata Tjuta, Northern Territory, Australia Castle Hill Rocks, South Island, New Zealand Kilauea Volcano, Big Island, Hawaii Machu Picchu, Peru Chichen Itza, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

This volume builds on the work of Ilse Laude-Cirtautas (1926-2019), a pioneering Turkologist who introduced the field of comparative Turkic studies to the US in the 1960s. It presents an ongoing dialogue whereby scholars from central and inner Asia and the West engage on issues of Turkic heritage, identity, language and literature. The discussions enrich scholarship in Central and Inner Asian Studies and explore the question "Who are the Turks?"

From Sir John Franklin's doomed 1845 search for the Northwest Passage to early twentieth-century sprints to the South Pole, polar expeditions produced an extravagant archive of documents that are as varied as they are engaging. As the polar ice sheets melt, fragments of this archive are newly emergent. In The News at the Ends of the Earth Hester Blum examines the rich, offbeat collection of printed ephemera created by polar explorers. Ranging from ship newspapers and messages left in bottles to menus and playbills, polar writing reveals the seamen wrestling with questions of time, space, community, and the environment. Whether chronicling weather patterns or satirically reporting on penguin mischief, this writing provided expedition members with a set of practices to help them survive the perpetual darkness and harshness of polar winters. The extreme climates these explorers experienced is continuous with climate change today. Polar exploration writing, Blum contends, offers strategies for confronting and reckoning with the extreme environment of the present.

Ninety years ago, Knud Rasmussen’s popular account of his scientific expeditions through Greenland and North America introduced readers to the culture and history of arctic Natives. In the intervening century, a robust field of ethnographic research has grown around the Inuit and Yupiit of North America—but, until now, English-language readers have had little access to the broad corpus of work on Greenlandic natives. Worldviews of the Greenlanders draws upon extensive Danish and Greenlandic research on Inuit arctic peoples—as well as Birgitte Sonne’s own decades of scholarship and fieldwork—to present in rich detail the key symbols and traditional beliefs of Greenlandic Natives, as well as the changes brought about by contact with colonial traders and Christian missionaries. It includes critical updates to our knowledge of the Greenlanders’ pre-colonial world and their ideas on space, time, and other worldly beings. This expansive work will be a touchstone of Arctic Native studies for academics who wish to expand their knowledge past the boundaries of North America.

​This Handbook provides the first comprehensive international overview of significant contemporary Indigenous architecture, practice, and discourse, showcasing established and emerging Indigenous authors and practitioners from Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, Canada, USA and other countries. It captures the breadth and depth of contemporary work in the field, establishes the historical and present context of the work, and highlights important future directions for research and practice. The topics covered include Indigenous placemaking, identity, cultural regeneration and Indigenous knowledges. The book brings together eminent and emerging scholars and practitioners to discuss and compare major projects and design approaches, to reflect on the main issues and debates, while enhancing theoretical understandings of contemporary Indigenous architecture.The book is an indispensable resource for scholars, students, policy makers, and other professionals seeking to understand the ways in which Indigenous people have a built tradition or aspire to translate their cultures into the built environment. It is also an essential reference for academics and practitioners working in the field of the built environment, who need up-to-date knowledge of current practices and discourse on Indigenous peoples and their architecture.