Geographers Tools Geography “geo” Earth and “graphy” to write From the Greek ‘geographia’ Maps – a 2-dimensional (flat) model of the 3-dimensional Earth reference communication Cartography – the science of map making Spatial Organization – the location and patterns of people, places, and events that connect us to our landscapes (physical and human)

Ancient Guys to Know Eratosthenes (276? – 194?BCE) Ptolemy Calculated the circumference of the Earth within 15% Combination of geography and geometry! Ptolemy Calculated the circumference of the Earth as 9,000 miles smaller and regarded as truth Developed a grid system that became a forerunner for latitude and longitude

Eratosthenes’ Map

Critical Looking

2-D Distorts Globe is accurate, but limited Projections (Map) – the scientific method of transferring locations on Earth’s surface to a flat map Shape Distance Size Direction

Mercator

Mercator

Mercator Projection Gerardus Mercator (1512 – 1594); Flemish cartographer, philosopher, and mathematician Created the Mercator Projection in 1569 1569: Historical Context: Age of Exploration Fast Fact: first used the word atlas to describe a collection of maps

Loxodromes/Rhumb Lines – straight lines of constant compass bearing; produced by Mercator’s projection Meridians and parallels cross at 90 degrees Excellent for navigation Beloved by explorers

So What’s the Problem with Mercator? DIRECTION is true (thanks loxodromes!) SIZE is distorted (especially at the poles) Greenland and Antarctica

Robinson Projection

Robinson Projection Arthur H. Robinson (1915 – 2004); American geographer and cartographer Created in 1961- 63 in response to Rand McNally Adopted by National Geographic in 1988, later abandoned in favor of Van der Grinten Specifically intended to solve the problems of other flat projections (neither equal area, or preserving land mass, nor conformal, or preserving angles)

So What’s the Problem with Robinson? EVERYTHING is a little bit distorted Shape Size Distance Direction Helpful for general reference; often used in classrooms

Peters Projection

Peters Projection Dr. Arno Peters (1916 – 2002); German historian and cartographer Introduced his version in Germany at a conference in 1974 English version published in 1983 Generated firestorm of debate immediately Eurocentric ideas vs. misleading maps for 500+ years (interested in political propaganda) Based on Rev. James Gall’s projection, one of the first equal area maps – now commonly the Gall-Peters projection

So What’s the Problem with Peters? SIZE is true (land masses are equal and not Eurocentric) SHAPE is distorted (looks unfamiliar!)

Goode-Homolosine Projection

Goode-Homolosine Projection John Paul Goode (1862 – 1932) ; American geographer and cartographer Introduced in 1923 as the “Evil Mercator” Attempt to offer an alternative to Mercator when representing global relationships Equated map projections to an orange peel Interruptions and lobes In its most common form, the map interrupts the North Atlantic, the South Atlantic, the South Pacific, the Indian Ocean, and the entire east/west meridian of the map.

So What’s the Problem with Goode-Homolosine? INTERRUPTED – points on the map are not continuous and therefore distorts distance; however, continents and regions are mostly intact rather than separated (sometimes regions are repeated in order to avoid interruption) SIZE– preserved to insure accurate representation of the continents

Cartography is Concurrent Waterman Butterfly (1996) Steve Waterman (d. 2015) Modeled after Bernard J.S. Cahill’s (1866 – 1944) rubber ball/butterfly map Life long pursuit to eliminate distortion in 2-Dimensional maps All continents are uninterrupted

Map Projection Humor What does your favorite map projection say about you? https://xkcd.com/977/ Waterman Butterfly (1996)