Global Dawn - a Digital Earth novel written by Deborah Gelbard foreworded by Dr. Timothy W. Foresman

Global Dawn and an Unusual Approach to GIS

"Global Dawn is the story of Reuven, a GIS professional, whose personal mission is to awaken humankind to new levels of planetary information and perception. This is a man whose ideological drive is grounded in involvement with the Planet, its lines, its structure and its systems. Far from merely being the source of the bread on his plate, Geographical Information is the springboard of all his personal aspirations. He believes it to be the binding force to equalize nations and cultures, and he plans to build the Global Information Framework that will enable it to do so.
Reuven lives in a region historically seen as the cross-roads of the World – the Middle East. He plans to build the core of his Global Information Framework in Jerusalem, a city highly charged with the spirit, culture and energies of all the world's main religions and ethnic groups.
Reuven is a powerful orator, and his enthusiasm for maps and geographic information soon impregnates the soul of his close confidante, Ora. She says,
"He's got me delving into cartographic history and its connection with Jerusalem, as well as all sorts of other stuff about the future and how each of us has a role in shaping it."
He responds by saying:
"Cartography didn't spring up in a vacuum. The people who drew the early maps knew far more than we do now about the Earth's patterns and forces."
His goal is to uncover those natural patterns that empowered ancient peoples with cosmic knowledge, and to distribute such knowledge to all the citizens of the world through the global network he intends to create.
Global Dawn draws the threads of its inspiration from a multiplicity of sources related to cartography, global networking and belief systems old and new. The ancient concept of Mother Earth as a central energy source is bonded with such modern philosophies as those of R. Buckminster Fuller, Donald E. Ingber and former US Vice-President, Al Gore: Fuller's theories of natural synergy, Ingber's tract on the architecture of life and Gore, whose dream of constructing a Digital Earth was first developed at NASA and more recently taken up by Google Earth.
These themes are seamlessly joined into the infrastructure of a lively plot that draws the reader into the twists and turns of regular Israeli life against a background of war and natural disaster. In the words of Digital Earth pioneer, Dr. Timothy Foresman:
"Gelbard captures the hitherto unwritten passion of the Digital Earth Community. First articulated by former Vice President Al Gore in 1998, the Digital Earth envisages a virtual representation of the Earth linked to vast digital archives facilitating understanding of the Earth and of human activity upon it.
The author's insightful use of the natural design secrets of the universe in the structuring of Global Dawn is in harmony with contemporary thought among those who contemplate a sustainable future for humanity. She weaves science, art, mysticism and spiritual growth into an enticing drama that combines the joy and the angst of embracing a common destiny for humankind amid grim, present-day realities."

Let us take a look at Global Dawn's protagonist, Reuven as he sets out for a typical day's work as a land surveyor in the field:
"Some forty kilometers south of Tel-Aviv towards Ashkelon, he maneuvered the red Mini to a halt. He stepped out of the car, rummaged in the back to retrieve his surveying instruments and a map, and then walked briskly across the road. Rising to its mid-morning height, the sun caught the upward tilt of his wide oval face and the outline of his broad shoulders, slightly hunched over a generous physique. He cut a commanding figure, even dressed as he was in scruffy work clothes – crudely cut denim shorts, ragged T-shirt and boyish cotton socks tucked into the tops of field-worn sneakers.
As he climbed across a scanty verge, he noted angles and distances, and cross-checked them against indications on his map. He skirted a planted cotton field where the saline irrigation water had left a whitish residue on the sandy topsoil and a rank saltiness lingered in the air. Verifying existing measurements and calculating new ones, he moved ahead. The results of each of his surveys had to be entered with meticulous care into a computerized geographic information system or ‘GIS’. In it, each area’s defining features and boundaries, natural and man-made, were precisely referenced.
While striving for objective accuracy in his work, its political significance did not elude him. Struggles over land ownership were at the root of so many of the world’s wars, not least in the little country of Israel. He approached his work with a conviction of individual purpose. Master of borders and boundaries, he had the freedom to mark new territory and to re-divide the land according to his judgment. His chosen lines became accepted facts in the street and in the courtroom. He believed himself to be a designated agent of change."

To tell you any more of the central roles that maps, the mapping profession and one particular map all play in this unusual story, would really be to give too much away. I invite you to read and enjoy Global Dawn, remembering that is the only novel that was truly inspired by the GIS profession!
Sincerely,
Deborah Gelbard"
The novellist at the ISDE5. Photo courtesy by D.Gelbard. HUNAGI Visuals resource, 2007

See Global Dawn: Gelbard, Deborah. Published, September 2006, Pendium Publishing. ISBN: 0-9724586-7-0.
Global Dawn is available for online purchase via Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. A description and some relevant extracts are below, and further details can be found at: http://www.webhaven.co.il/globaldawn.html

A bit of the bio of the Author:
Deborah Gelbard, University of London honours graduate in French and Spanish literature, also has a Higher Diploma in French Studies from the University of Nice, France.
She has published academic essays on the work of Marcel Proust and is a former Technical Editor of Horizon, electronic magazine of the International Peace Research Association.