As a young man living in rural Kansas in the 1940s, Charles Novak took a
job with the federal government--not because he liked the work but
because he heard it paid well. That job shaped his life in ways he could
never have imagined. As a surveyor for the U.S. Coast and Geodetic
Survey, Charles was tasked with measuring the unmapped American
landscape. Over the years this would take him from being eaten up by
mosquitoes in Alaska, to eating steak and lobster on oil rigs in
Louisiana. His career became even more adventurous when his family later
hit the road with him, making their home in a caravan of trailers as the
survey team traversed the nation. The measurements taken by Charles and
the team eventually helped build today's GPS technology. But such a
contribution was the furthest thing from the minds of Charles and his
family as they experienced life on the road during a time of astounding
change in American life. From segregated trains, to Cold War military
bases, and back to Kansas, Charles's family found that home is more than
a place on a map.