Actual map of the world portable#

This title, along with an elaborate explanation for using the projection that appears as a section of text on the map, shows that Mercator understood exactly what he had achieved and that he intended the projection to aid navigation. Mercator titled the map Nova et Aucta Orbis Terrae Descriptio ad Usum Navigantium Emendata: 'A new and augmented description of Earth corrected for the use of sailors'. In 1569, Gerhard Kremer, known by his trade name Gerardus Mercator, announced a new projection by publishing a large planispheric map measuring 202 by 124 cm (80 by 49 in) and printed in eighteen separate sheets. If these sheets were brought to the same scale and assembled, they would approximate the Mercator projection. In 1537, he proposed constructing a nautical atlas composed of several large-scale sheets in the cylindrical equidistant projection as a way to minimize distortion of directions. Portuguese mathematician and cosmographer Pedro Nunes first described the mathematical principle of the loxodrome and its use in marine navigation. The projection in use was the equirectangular projection. However, this was a simple, and common, case of misidentification. Joseph Needham, a historian of China, wrote that the Chinese developed the Mercator projection hundreds of years before Mercator did, using it in star charts during the Song Dynasty. Snyder amends his assessment to 'a similar projection' in 1994.

However, given the geometry of a sundial, these maps may well have been based on the similar central cylindrical projection, a limiting case of the gnomonic projection, which is the basis for a sundial. The projection found on these maps, dating to 1511, was stated by Snyder in 1987 to be the same projection as Mercator's.

Actual map of the world portable#

German polymath Erhard Etzlaub engraved miniature 'compass maps' (about 10×8 cm) of Europe and parts of Africa that spanned latitudes 0°–67° to allow adjustment of his portable pocket-size sundials. There is some controversy over the origins of the Mercator. 5.3 Mercator projection transformations.Take a look at each continent on the planet and one extra treat – a supposedly huge island.

In this particular map, he marked the true objects in the darker color and put them against a regular map so you can see the difference. And if you follow him on social media, you will notice he has a genuine concern for environment and education, constantly filling his feed with various informational posts and interesting facts. Even though his usual routines consist of analyzing various climate data and tracking climate change, geography is something tied closely together with his field of work. Good thing this climate data scientist took up the task of educating the masses on country size comparison and put up a map projection that shows real sizes together with those shown in regular maps. It’s just not that simple laying out a globe on a flat piece of paper as in the Mercator map that we are all so familiar with. Let’s just jump ahead and say there are no conspiracy theories here. Probably most of us are familiar with the famous saying ‘my whole life was a lie,’ and we hate to tell you that, but it most likely was when it comes to the world map as we know it.