I was fortunate to be in Chicago over the holidays for the citywide Festival of Maps and its multiple exhibits about the role that maps play in human relations and history. Highlights for me were the large installation at the Field Museum and an equally absorbing exhibit at Loyola University's Newberry Library, both part of Maps: Finding Our Place in the World. The Field Museum exhibit had too many awe-inspiring pieces to mention, but I note a 1300 B.C. clay map of Babylonia and two palm-sized Inuit maps made from carved wood that perfectly replicated Arctic shorelines. Also included were maps drawn by Native Americans marking pre-U.S.-treaty villages, maps drawn by Da Vinci, and personal maps from the private holdings of Cortés, Lewis and Clark, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington. The maps were from all over the world, encompassed many surfaces, and ranged in content from the military to the literary, spiritual, linguistic, biological, agricultural, celestial, and imaginary. Some were lavishly painted, such as the Dutch art maps, others were simple drawings, such as the drawing of an Aboriginal sacred water hole site. Some maps even included handwriting from the period in which they were used. If you happen to be in Chicago in January, these exhibits will give you much to ponder in the weighty ways of the world. I have not been able to stop thinking about how maps are used to shape our views of the world's cultures and to exert control over people and spaces. Too bad I didn't see a bead map of the world!