Maps might be the oldest form of nonverbal communication. Humans mapped the stars on cave walls ten thousand years ago; by 2200 BCE, Babylonians had created maps on clay tablets, making them somewhat portable. Fast-forward to the Renaissance, when, thanks to the printing press, maps were reproduced for a larger audience. Maps began to reflect a global view during the age of exploration in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when Columbus and others made their voyages. The invention of the compass and telescope made maps more accurate, and now, thanks to geographical information technology and satellites, maps are more exact than ever before.

In its simplest form, a map is a spatial representation of a place. Maps are very precise, noting, for example, not simply that a route is a highway, but that it is an interstate. Further, real-time maps on GPS (global positioning systems) and smartphones also indicate the amount of traffic on a given road.

Maps are available in a variety of media. The American Automobile Association (AAA) produces foldout print maps for road trips, and travel books and sites such as Lonely Planet provide maps for travel destinations. We can get them by GPS, on our smartphones, and through popular sites such as Google Maps, Bing Maps, and Mapquest, while Google Earth can give you an aerial map of your location—taken from live satellite images—at any moment.