perspective distortion means when a map projection distorts the earth.
perspective distortion means when a map projection distorts the earth.
what does it mean when a map projection distorts the earth?
perspective distortion
however, carl friedrich gauss's theorema egregium proved that a sphere's surface cannot be represented on a plane without distortion. the same applies to other reference surfaces used as models for the earth, such as oblate spheroids, ellipsoids and geoids. since any map projection is a representation of one of those surfaces on a plane, all map projections distort. every distinct map projection distorts in a distinct way. the study of map projections is the characterization of these distortions.
map projection
flemish geographer and cartographer gerardus mercator world map of 1569 introduced a cylindrical map projection that became the standard map projection known as the mercator projection. it was a large planisphere measuring , printed in eighteen separate sheets. while the linear scale is constant in all directions around any point, thus preserving the angles and the shapes of small objects (which makes the projection conformal), the mercator projection distorts the size and shape of large objects, as the scale increases from the equator to the poles, where it becomes infinite. the title ("nova et aucta orbis terrae descriptio ad usum navigatium emendate": "new and augmented description of earth corrected for the use of navigation") and the map legends show that the map was expressly conceived for the use of marine navigation. the principal feature of the projection is that rhumb lines, sailing courses at a constant bearing, are mapped to straight lines on the map. the development of the mercator projection represented a major breakthrough in the nautical cartography of the 16th century although it was only slowly adopted by seafaring nations.
early world maps