New Books in Intellectual History Edward McPherson, "Look Out: The Delight and Danger of Taking the Long View" (Astra House, 2025)
Dec 13, 2025
Edward McPherson, a nonfiction writer and professor, dives into his book on the cultural significance of aerial views and long-distance mapping. He discusses the obsession with bird's-eye perspectives from the 19th century and how mapping shapes public perception and power dynamics. The conversation touches on the duality of drones—offering both benefits in science and risks of surveillance. McPherson also shares insights on how the pandemic reframed narratives of distance, emphasizing the importance of melding both far and close perspectives in understanding our world.
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Aerial View As Cultural Obsession
- Edward McPherson treats the aerial view as both literal technology and a cultural obsession spanning art, maps, drones, and space.
- He argues these long-distance perspectives reveal patterns but also erase ground-level realities and people.
How 19th-Century Bird's-Eye Maps Were Made
- Itinerant 19th-century artists walked towns, sketched in classical perspective, and sold bird's-eye lithographs by subscription.
- These prints were civic souvenirs and ads that shaped town pride and migration ambitions.
Maps Reveal And Erase
- McPherson emphasizes maps both reveal and erase: they show expansion while implying empty land and ignoring Indigenous presence.
- He links the aerial gaze to colonial narratives that justify settlement and development.
