Global Positioning System: A Field Guide for the Social Sciences. J. Spencer, B. G. Frizelle, P. H. Page, & J. B. Vogler. 2003. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford. 224 pp. $29.95 paperback.

Global Positioning System: A Field Guide for the Social Sciences is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the decisions that must be considered prior to fieldwork. The authors discuss locating hospitals or the closest locations of doctors for their social science studies. The decisions for fieldwork are applicable across many disciplines, whether the fieldwork locates wetlands or underground storage tanks. The book forces the determination of the mapping accuracy needed for a project and thus the correct Global Positioning System (GPS) unit. The book explains the multitude of GPS receivers and provides enough information for one to select the appropriate unit. It discusses the many coordinate systems and datums without bogging the reader down.