How to read this book
This book is the concept companion to Introduction to GIS, the course that Waldo teaches inside ArcGIS Pro. You do the practical work in the lessons in the Waldo pane, such as opening data, drawing maps and running tools. This book explains the ideas behind those lessons and includes the figures that do not fit in the pane beside Pro.
One chapter for each module. Chapter 3 goes with Module 3, Chapter 8 with Module 8. Chapter 0 is the exception. It covers the setup from a new computer to the first lesson, and it is also published separately as the getting-started guide. You can read a chapter before its module, after it, or alongside it, because the chapters do not assume that you have done the lessons.
The book does not repeat the steps of a lesson. It explains what a coordinate system is, but it does not say which button sets one. Lesson boxes indicate where the module puts the concept to work.
The boxes are the same in every chapter:
Why this matters
Appears at the start of each chapter and gives the reason for studying the chapter's ideas.
You should be able to explain
Appears after it on the opening page and lists three ideas that you should be able to explain to someone in a sentence.
Rule of thumb
A working rule that the course follows, such as mapping rates rather than counts. The course's own maps and Waldo's advice follow these rules.
In the pane
Lists the lessons in the matching module that use the idea and what they do with it. It names lessons but does not give the clicks.
Try it
A question to ask Waldo in the pane that demonstrates the idea on your own screen.
Reading the result
Appears at the end of a worked example and states the question, the representation, what the result shows and what it cannot show.
Note
A short aside, such as a detail, an exception or a reference to another chapter.
Figures are numbered by chapter; their sources and licences are under Figure credits at the back. Key terms close each chapter and are collected in the Glossary.
The two editions have the same text. The PDF prints on US Letter and A4 without scaling. The web edition has one page per chapter and uses the same section names, so Chapter 3, Scale is 3-spatial-reference#scale on the web and a bookmark in the PDF.