GreyMatter
Uncommon Perspectives by Naveen Bachwani
Filed under Society, Travel | 27 November 2009 |
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In July of 2003, I wrote a controversial post entitled ‘An Alien World‘:
What if someone told you that the World Map you know so well has been successfully used to give our children and ourselves an inaccurate picture of the world and our place within it?
Unfortunately, the problem persists and is unlikely to go away soon! The Directions’ article clarifies:
A globe is the most accurate representation of the Earth. This is true because it is impossible to create an absolutely accurate map by flattening out the Earth’s land masses.
There are several ways to project the Earth’s surface to create a map (there are about 15-20 map projections in use today). Logically, a map user must be aware of which mapping properties remain accurate and which will be distorted in a particular projection. Typically, this choice will depend on the purpose and scope of the map; No flat map can be both conformal and equal-area, nor both equidistant and equal-area.
ODTMaps provides a helpful explanation:
Mercator’s projection (created at a time when navigators were sailing on the oceans in wooden ships, powered by the wind, and navigating by the stars) was particularly useful because straight lines on his projection were lines of constant compass bearing. Today the Mercator projection still remains useful for navigational purposes and is referred to by seafarers and airline pilots.
The Mercator is also a “conformal” map projection. This means that it shows shapes pretty much the way they appear on the globe. The mapmaker’s dilemma is that you cannot show both shape and size accurately. If you want a true shape for the land masses you will necessarily sacrifice proportionality, i.e., the relative sizes will be distorted.
Whichever way you look at it, it can’t be denied that the world view we are so well-acquainted with is a widely-believed distortion at best!
Do we really need any more reason to “change the world”?!
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