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#mercator

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Mina<p>We all know, how crappy the common <a href="https://berlin.social/tags/Mercator" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Mercator</span></a> projection for world <a href="https://berlin.social/tags/maps" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>maps</span></a> represents areas, inflating them with distance from the equator.</p><p>What many people don't know, is why this projection is still so popular: </p><p>The shortest path between two points on the globe, is a straight line on the map.</p><p>I reckon, this is useful.</p><p>In all other projections, the shortest paths are curves. </p><p>In <a href="https://berlin.social/tags/Maths" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Maths</span></a>, we say, the Mercator projection preserves angles, not areas.</p>
HuisOpDeGaard 🇾🇪 🇪🇺 🇺🇦<p>IMMAPPANCY</p><p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://vis.social/@infobeautiful" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@<span>infobeautiful</span></a></span> Not only is the blogpost 15 years old…the author of the post did not do a very good job in referencing the ‘Africa-image’ to it’s original author; <a href="http://kai.sub.blue/en/africa.html" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">http://</span><span class="">kai.sub.blue/en/africa.html</span><span class="invisible"></span></a> </p><p>He ‘coined’ the term “ “immappancy”, meaning in-<br>sufficient geographical knowledge.” adressing “the highly distorted nature of the predominantly used mapping projections (such as Mercator).”</p><p>The full map and adjoining info is avalable as a download (CC).<br><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/kaikrause" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>kaikrause</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/mercator" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>mercator</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/immappancy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>immappancy</span></a></p>

Mercator Misconceptions - Clever Map Shows the True Size of Countries [Especially In High Latitudes]
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visualcapitalist.com/mercator- <-- shared technical article
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equal-earth.com/ <-- shared Equal Earth map projection details [the poster’s recommended global projection for many use cases]
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[note the ‘true’ size of high latitude landmasses like Greenland and Canada (and Russia as well); note also that the Mercator Projection was not / is not a ‘tool of colonialism’, geopolitics or the like, it was/is ‘simply’ a very clever projection to aid in marine navigation]
#GIS #spatial #mapping #projection #Greenland #Canada #Russia #size #landarea #projection #mapprojection #JustSayNoToGallPeters #equalarea #Mercator #marine #nautical #navigation #spheroid #globe #area #shape #direction #equalearth #Africa #rhomb #rhomblines

A #map in the #wild. Turned around this evening in the #pub #urinal (not before I’d finished!) to see this peeling #wall paint. Can you see a #Mercator northern hemisphere #global projection here? It struck me immediately!

FYI I hate Mercator projections. If I’m forced to put #north at the top of my maps, then I choose #EqualEarth projections. I disavow Mercator’s #imperialist #global view of the world. As a #medieval (ist) #East is always top of any map I draw anyway! #Orientate your #Maps.

Nostalgia – Cartography & Projections On Network TV’s ‘West Wing’
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youtu.be/UPaca-SrvEk?si=vhY84Z
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Cool to see map geekiness pop up on network TV drama a few years back
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• I am NOT a fan of the the Galls Peters - thinking that the Equal Earth Projection (equal-earth.com/) is vastly superior technically and ‘aesthetically pleasing’
• The 1569 Mercator projection was NOT designed as a ‘tool of cultural oppression’, that is a persistent myth - but rather was "... the standard map projection for navigation because it is unique in representing north as up and south as down everywhere while preserving local directions and shapes...”
• As a Trekkie, I also love that the actor John Billingsley - who plays Dr Flox - is the ‘lead scientist’…
#GIS #spatial #mapping #cartography #projection #mapprojections #gischat #StarTrek #WestWing #networkTV #TV #EqualEarth #mapping #representation #mapgeeks #mapgeekiness #mercator #rhumblines #navigation #usecase #marine #shape #area #distance

Replied in thread

@conradhackett

This is a great image. It helps debunk the baseless conspiracy theory, i.e. Mercator map was meant to support racism and make Europe look bigger. In fact the biggest area distortions of the #Mercator map are #Siberia, #BaffinIsland, and #Antarctica, all of which are almost entirely unpopulated. The actual reason for this particular map projection is merely ease of early, pre modern science, ocean #navigation:

kaiserscience.wordpress.com/ea

@edutooters
@scienceteachers

KaiserScienceMercator maps: Use and&nbsp;criticismBy New England Blogger