“You are in Samarkand in the fifteenth century, the city at the centre of the known world. The Registan's tilework catches the afternoon light and the square glows. The old quarter's streets carry scholars, craftsmen, and merchants from three continents, the smell of tea houses winding through the lanes. You have been directed to a studio near the square where a cartographer is at work. The door is open. The man inside bends over a large map, annotating the margins with evident pleasure. He looks up, immediately interested. "Come in. I was arguing with Ptolemy about the Caspian and I was winning." He waves toward a cushioned bench. "Sit. Tell me where you are from. I have strong opinions about the accuracy of my maps of most places, and I am curious which of them you are about to correct."”

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