4 ms·
Obligatory XKCD: http://xkcd.com/977/ http://xkcd.com/977/ I wonder if there is some sort of theorem that describes which fidelities you can get out of a flat
by aleyan 13y ago
Obligatory XKCD:
http://xkcd.com/977/ http://xkcd.com/977/
I wonder if there is some sort of theorem that describes which fidelities you can get out of a flat projection of the surface of a sphere. For example, a projection could have accurate area ratios or accurately reflect point to point distances but not both.
- BerislavLopac 13y agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Map_projection http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Map_projection
- crygin 13y agoEssentially: conformal (angles are equal in different areas of the map -- this is the purpose of Mercator, for sailing), equal-area (regions of the same area are represented equally), contiguous (paths between regions do not leave the map, e.g. not a Goode homolosine, Dymaxion, etc). Pick two.
- baddox 13y agoThere is a lot of theory surrounding map projections. I only took an introductory GIS course in college, but it was clear that there is an incredible amount of work behind the scenes there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_information_system http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_information_system
- curiousdannii 13y agoA spherical globe still counts as a projection of our non-spherical planet!
- D9u 13y agoI've always preferred using a globe to get a perspective on the Earth and the various positions of continents and nations.