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I agree on your first point, but not your second. In the fourth paragraph it says: "Its purpose was to be used for maritime navigation and it served this purpo
by scoot 4y ago
I agree on your first point, but not your second. In the fourth paragraph it says:
"Its purpose was to be used for maritime navigation and it served this purpose well since throughout the projection North is up and South is down, while local shapes and directions are maintained. So when using this projection on a map scaled for navigational use it's easier to find your way."
The "solution" presented in the article looks an absolute mess to me though. Surely the better answer is a globe (real or virtual)? Those have existed in schools and homes for almost as long as maps. My children grew up with a LeapFrog globe, and at a young age gould find every country on the planet, by country or capital name. Great fun and highly recommended.
- xyzzyz 4y agoGlobes of size useful for navigation are too big to be convenient when actually navigating. You cannot flat pack globes. They’re just impractical for this purpose.
- scoot 4y agoYou're conflating two different topics. The article asserts (correctly) that the Mercator projection, while useful for navigation, distorts the globe at a macro scale when used for educational purposes. A globe solves that problem.
- xyzzyz 4y agoAh, yes, sorry, I got confused by this thread. Yes, globes are great educational tool. I think it’s actually valuable to show all of globes, Mercator, and the weird equal area projections, just to teach about trade offs.
- toast0 4y agoIt's hard to look at a whole globe at once. It's also hard to have enough globes to see how political boundaries have changed over time. Flat projections are needed for educational purposes too.
- thrown_22 4y ago>A globe solves that problem. Great. Now try and draw a journey on a globe.
- Taniwha 4y agoOf course you can - Amazon will do it for you https://www.amazon.com/inflatable-globe/s?k=inflatable+globe https://www.amazon.com/inflatable-globe/s?k=inflatable+globe
- rayiner 4y agoThe article notes the fact that Mercator is better for ocean navigation, but fails to understand how that’s connected to its prevalence: the mapmakers were seafaring explorers. Classrooms have globes. Insofar as the Mercator projection is widespread, however, a responsible teacher should explain the historical connection between ocean navigation and mapmaking. Not recount a totally manufactured example of racism.
- wolverine876 4y ago> Classrooms have globes. Do they? Not many IME, and not really used. > a responsible teacher should explain the historical connection between ocean navigation and mapmaking Says who? Is that in the cirriculum? > a totally manufactured example of racism. That it's totally totally manufactured is itself totally manufactured.
- bawolff 4y ago> Says who? Is that in the cirriculum? Yes? I mean, i guess different places have different curriculum, but this was certainly in my school's curriculum and it seems like the sort of basic knowledge that definitely should be.
- rootsudo 4y agoThey used too, my classes did. I can see not anymore with cost cutting and relying on Google Maps. But, there was a time where Google didn't exist, and a globe would be in the corner of the classroom w/ Maps that can be pulled down on the whiteboard/chalkboard (boy was that an exciting change!) that showed different maps, from Mercator maps to political USA maps and geographic USA maps. Shocking, I know.