3 ms·
The Mercator projection is the only 2D map projection where: - North is always up - Angles are correct If that's your criteria for correctness, then Merca
by xvedejas 6y ago
The Mercator projection is the only 2D map projection where:
- North is always up
- Angles are correct
If that's your criteria for correctness, then Mercator is the most correct map projection. If you want a map that shows correct right-angle grids in cities when zoomed in, for instance, you don't care about country d̶i̶c̶k̶-̶m̶e̶a̶s̶u̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ area-measuring contests.
- tzs 6y agoNowadays most people deal with maps on computers. It should be possible to have a map that stores the underlying map data in 3D and projects it on the fly to your 2D display, using different projections at different scales. Maybe use an area preserving projection when zoomed way out, an angle preserving one when zoomed way in, and some kind of mix in between. Or maybe even let the user specify what they want preserved and use an appropriate projection. Are there any computer maps that do this?
- bagacrap 6y agogoogle earth?
- candiodari 6y agoGoogle earth simply shows the 3d structure at every zoom level. No projection, and when zoomed out, even on the web, it shows a ball. Probably not too useful for Navigation of course.
- lupire 6y agoDelete the crudeness; don't just cross it out.
- xvedejas 6y agoI hope it's clear I'm mocking the crudeness of conflating area and worth? Take up your issues with the article author.
- spacemanmatt 6y agoI feel like preserving angles is way more important to this math/eng crowd than it is to casual map users.
- gus_massa 6y agoPreserving angles is good for sailors. A long time ago, (almost) only sailors needed a map of the whole word, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_projection#Marine_Navigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_projection#Marine_Nav...