Yes, Mercator created his map to solve a real problem for the ships' navigators of his day. And it did, it was a big improvement over what they had before that.

Yes, Mercator created his map to solve a real problem for the ships' navigators of his day. And it did, it was a big improvement over what they had before that. Like many innovations, it became widely adopted for uses beyond its original scope, which became somewhat forgotten.