There are two attitudes toward maps.

Logical, left-brained types revere them. These born navigators read them and plot out routes for fun. They obsess about and refold them into sharp accordion creases, too.

Then there are direction-challenged right brainers (guilty as charged). Maps are for saps. We can't read 'em and we don't care. Life is a random road trip. Scrunched maps go to glove compartments to die.

This lifelong map malcontent hates to admit it, but the Field Museum's new exhibit offers a fresh perspective.

Maps ... are cool.

More than 180 rare maps are on display in "Maps Finding Our Place in the World," including originals by Ptolemy, Leonardo da Vinci, J.R.R. Tolkien, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. This excellent history of cartography, showpiece of Chicago's "Festival of Maps," runs through Jan. 27.

Not just graphic representations to get one from point A to point B, maps reflect the makers' identify and their times, curators pointed out. Whole worlds represent the eye of the beholder.

That said, recurring themes abound in these historic maps of sticks, stone, paper and microchips. Early cultures positioned their communities as the center of the universe, with outer borders representing the scary unknown.

The battle for territory is a long-time impetus for maps. Early 19th- and 20th-century maps of the United States show white settlers staking claims while Native American maps sought to reclaim land.

Then there are thematic maps, like Jane Addams' team-produced, turn-of-century maps of the West Side. Women hand-collected data and color-coded the maps to chart incomes and ethnicities in the nation's first slum.

The oldest artifact on display is a clay tablet of the town plan for Nippur, south of Baghdad. The fragment, dating from 1300 B.C., is the first known town plan drawn to scale. The evolution of maps from clay tablets to personal navigations systems "tells us how mobile we are," Field spokesman Todd Tubutis noted.

Queen Elizabeth II loaned the three da Vinci maps on display.

The Newberry Library co-organized the exhibit with the Field and is housing a supplementary exhibit, as are the likes of the Adler Planetarium, Brookfield Zoo and Oriental Institute

For the Disney set

Here's a chance to bag two tickets to the sold-out "Hannah Montana" show Dec. 8 at Allstate Arena. Fill out a contest entry form at any of the five Luna Flooring showrooms in Greater Chicago. The winner also gets to meet Disney star Miley Cyrus, 14, daughter of "Achy-Breaky" singer Billy Ray Cyrus.

Grapevine

The Fighting Irish morphed into the Chowing Irish last Wednesday at ESPN Zone. The men's basketball team feasted on Buffalo wings, grilled chicken Caesar salads, ribs-and-chicken combos and chocolate chip cookie sundaes. As for Bears kicker Robbie Gould, he hit the sports eatery Saturday to watch the Virginia/North Carolina State college football game. His brother Chris is the kicker for Virginia (which lost in an upset despite the younger Gould's 23-yard field goal). ... The swanky Muvico movie chain is planning an eight-screen theater at the Block 37 site in the Loop. Customary amenities include 18 high-def Sony digital screens, VIP seating and a full-service bar and restaurant ... "Lion King" stage vet Larry Yando will play the irascible Ebenezer Scrooge in the Goodman Theatre's 30th annual production of "A Christmas Carol."