Peters World Map - Laminated (53 x 77cm)

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That’s the thing – it’s fundamentally impossible to get a nice, neat, rectangular but accurate map of the world. People have been suggesting using the Peters projection, but where Mercator distorts size but keeps shape, Peters is accurate with size but not shape. The best thing, I think, is a physical globe. On a globe, there are lines of latitude and longitude. A latitude line is horizontal, showing the distance from the equator (north or south). Longitude lines are vertical, measuring east and west of the Meridian line, which runs through Greenwich in England.

This map projection is flat-based, also named a plane projection. From the viewpoint of the top or bottom of the globe, the projection can display one/part of the hemispheres. It produces a circular map. This isn't the most common of map projections. Fig. 8: gall peters projection, (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gall%E2%80%93Peters_projection_SW.jpg), by Daniel R. Strebe (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Strebe), Licensed by CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/). As geographers, this term will be familiar. This is the world's most well-known and most recognised map projection. The Mercator projection is a cylindrical map created in 1569 but Gerardus Mercator. This projection was widely used in schools, and even Google used it until 2018. Although the Mercator projection has problems, it is still one of the most widely used map projections. On this projection, the most accurate projection is closest to the equator, but as you move away from the equator, more distortion occurs. As you can see on the image below, countries further from the equator are not accurate sizes and appear stretched. Greenland and Africa look to be the same size, but really, Africa is actually 14 times larger than Greenland. 1 On Mercator's map, Antarctica is bigger than all the continents, but in reality, Antarctica is about the same size as the US and Mexico put together. x = R π λ cos ⁡ 45 ∘ 180 ∘ = R π λ 180 ∘ 2 y = R sin ⁡ φ cos ⁡ 45 ∘ = R 2 sin ⁡ φ {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}x&={\frac {R\pi \lambda \cos 45 The great advantage of Mercator's projection is that lines of constant compass bearing (eg a line traced out by moving due East) correspond to straight lines on the map. This means that if you want to sail from A to B, you only need to draw a straight line between the two on the map. The angle the line makes with the equator (or any line of latitude) tells you your North-South direction and its relation to the Greenwich meridian tells you your East-West direction. You then head off in the direction thus found, using your compass as a guide. As long as you keep the compass needle fixed and don't hit any islands and continents along the way, you will get there. Unfair distortion

Hobo–Dyer

Points near the North pole (e.g. the two points on the right) are projected much higher up than points near the equator (e.g. the two points on the left). This diagram also indicates the distortion that happens as you move closer to the poles. Fig. 6: mercator projection, (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mercator_projection_Square.JPG), by Daniel R. Strebe (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Strebe), Licensed by CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).

The Gall–Peters projection achieved notoriety in the late 20th century as the centerpiece of a controversy about the political implications of map design. [5] Description [ edit ] The Gall–Peters cylindrical equal-area projection with Tissot's indicatrices of deformation Formula [ edit ] Maps are used for different activities - some are used for navigational purposes, whilst others are needed to look more directly at countries and continents. public Wi-Fi - this extends to the majority of our public spaces including the Reading Rooms, as well as our study desks and galleries at St Pancras (you won't require a login) Maps based on the projection are promoted by UNESCO, and they are also widely used by British schools. [3] The U.S. state of Massachusetts and Boston Public Schools began phasing in these maps in March 2017, becoming the first public school district and state in the United States to adopt Gall–Peters maps as their standard. [4] Alongside the most famous Mercator projection, many other map projections exist. There are hundreds of different map projections, all displaying our world in different ways. Each map has its own level of distortion. There are many different types of map projections for several reasons:Donald, I’m joking, I’m not trying to cancel Gerardus! I’m impressed he did all that with just his brain and a ruler. But we should probably have something accurate . Let's explore some of the other map projections that are commonly seen today. The Robinson Projection In this map, the orange dots represent the Tissot Indicatrix. This is a method of showing the level of distortion on a projected map. Each dot shows the level of distortion at that particular point; they are more commonly found when longitude and latitude lines meet. Tissot Indicatrix can actually be visualised in the same way as map projections; if equal-sized dots are drawn at regular points across a globe, and then the globe is projected onto a flat surface, those dots become distorted. The dots may change in shape or size depending on the type of distortion. AuthaGraph

The Gall–Peters projection is a rectangular, equal-area map projection. Like all equal-area projections, it distorts most shapes. It is a cylindrical equal-area projection with latitudes 45° north and south as the regions on the map that have no distortion. This projection uses a rectangle map with straight coordinate lines (both vertical and horizontal), and when you wrap it around a globe, it produces a cylinder or tube shape when the edges of the paper touch each other. These maps are accurate at the equator; however, the north and south poles become very distorted, where the earth starts to curve. With these kinds of projections, it becomes easy to visualise the whole world, even if the accuracy is not so high. One projection isn't enough; it's almost impossible to accurately project the whole world on one map.Exhibited: "Journeys of the Imagination" organized by the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library, 2006.

There are 3 different types of map projections. They all project the world in slightly different ways, providing different levels of distortion. AzimuthalMercator's projection is a variation of this cylindrical projection, which ensures that angles are represented faithfully on the map (see here for more detail on the maths of the projection). The problem with the poles still applies, however, and it's for this reason that the Mercator projection doesn't contain them and their immediate surroundings. All of our upcoming public events and our St Pancras building tours are going ahead. Read our latest blog post about planned events for more information. Generally, no projection of the Earth onto a 2D map is 100% accurate. The only way to represent the surface of the spherical Earth on a flat sheet of paper is to introduce distortion. You can convince yourself of this by wrestling an orange out of its skin, keeping the skin in a single piece. When you put the skin down, it will naturally retain its rounded shape. Any attempt to flatten it will either break it or stretch and squeeze it in some direction. Right … that’s why maps are so brilliant, because they also tell you about a society’s priorities. But GPS isn’t perfect. I went up the Brecon Beacons using GPS – the signal crashed, I got lost, I must have trespassed on a dozen farms. Frankly, I’m surprised I didn’t get shot.