Gerardus Mercator, Arno Peters, Map Projections, South Up Globe

On other pages:

URL for this page: http://www.pinnaclefarms.ca/ORIANAsite/DownsideUp/DownsideUp.html

Maps

The Earth Is:

round.

The only way to accurately represent the Earth is with a sphere.

On a globe:

directions are accurate

distances are accurate

shapes are accurate

areas are accurate

Unfortunately, a globe has inherent disadvantages. Even the largest globe has a very small scale and shows relatively little detail. A globe is costly to reproduce and update, it's difficult to carry around, and it's bulky to store.

These disadvantages make a globe impractical in many applications. Paper, on the other hand, is relatively inexpensive, it's not hard to carry around, and it can be stored easily. And, you can change the paper size or change the scale to show as big or as small an area as you want.

The Problem Is:

As soon as the spherical Earth is 'projected' onto a flat piece of paper, things start getting distorted. Directions may be true, but areas aren't; distances may be true, but shapes aren't.

The Question Is:

What do you want to do with the map? What is the application?

Because there are a vast number of applications for maps, cartographers (mapmakers) and mathematicians have devised almost limitless ways to project the image of the globe onto paper. Every projection has its own set of strengths and weaknesses.

The onus is on you, the person who wants the map, to select the projection that best suits your needs. Or develop your own - which is what both Gerardus Mercator and Arno Peters did.

The Mercator Projection

When

In 1453 A.D., the Byzantine capital of Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks and the land bridge between Europe and the Far East fell with it. Only the west and south offered possible alternatives and so Europe took to the seas.

In an environment without landmarks, getting from here to there was an immense challenge, especially when there was no clear understanding of where 'there' was - at that time, most still believed that the world was flat.

What

New tools were needed and, in 1569, Gerardus Mercator provided one. Now known as the Mercator map, this navigational tool had the great advantage that lines on the map are 'rhumb lines'.

That means that a line drawn between any two points on the map gives the correct compass bearing for getting from the first point to the second point. For seafarers on the open ocean in craft that were tiny by today's standards, the Mercator map was a powerful asset.

Old Sailing Ships

Aircraft Carrier

Mastery of the seas has played a critical role in global affairs ever since and one side-effect is that the Mercator map has become the defacto standard 'map of the world' in nearly every classroom around the world.

The Problem Is:

On the Mercator projection, directions are true but distances, shapes, and areas are not. In particular, the distortion of areas increases as one moves away from the equator. For example, Greenland and Africa appear to be the same size, where in fact, Africa is fourteen times larger than Greenland.

Yesterday's world voyagers and colonizers have become today's industrialized nations. Coincidentally, these regions - North America and Europe - look much larger than they actually are. Also coincidentally, most of the third world is situated in the equatorial regions where the size distortion is the least.

At the right, we have cut out parts of photographs of the Earth as seen from outer space and put them beside approximately the same cutout from a Mercator map. Compare the relative sizes of Europe to Africa and North America to South America. This is NOT a scientific comparison but it is a reasonable presentation of the size distortion.

Actual areas are:

Africa

20.3% of Earth's land area
30,065,107 sq.km. (11,608,156 sq.mi.)

Europe

6.7% of Earth's land area
9,938,037 sq.km. (3,837,082 sq.mi.)

Africa is about three times larger than Europe.

North America

16.3% of Earth's land area

24,256,087 sq.km. (9,365,290 sq.mi.)

South America

12.0% of Earth's land area

17,819,065 sq.km. (6,879,952 sq.mi.

North America is only about one and one-third times larger than South America.

Source: www.factmonster.com

In a world where might is right and bigger is better, it can and has been argued that the Mercator projection has the psychological impact of demeaning people who are already downtrodden, while enhancing a position of superiority for the first world nations.

The fact that most students around the world use the Mercator map exacerbates the issue. Though many teachers do explain the inaccuracy of the Mercator map, over 90% of our sensory input is through our eyes.

As the proverb goes: seeing is believing.

That is the problem.

The Question Is:

What to do about it?

Arno Peters proposed a solution.

The Peters Projection

In 1973, Arno Peters, a German historian, released his map of the world. He challenged the dominance of the Mercator projection with the charge that the popularity of the Mercator view stems largely from the fact that it exaggerates the sizes of white-dominated regions and thus reflects a racist attitude. A serious charge, if actually true, and one that precipitated a debate that is still alive and well today.

In his projection, Peters chose to make areas accurate. Direction, distance, and shape are sacrificed but the resulting map does provide a much more realistic view of the actual relative sizes of the various regions of the planet.

The scientific community has heaped much criticism on the Peters map. Though there is some technical merit to the arguments, one gets the impression that much of the criticism is not about the map per se, but about the man. Scientists pride themselves on being objective, factual, nonpolitical, and non-religious. Arno Peters chose to embroil the Peters Projection in controversy from Day 1 and, in so doing, aggravated some sensitivities in the scientific community.

The National Council of Churches in the United States originally published the Peters map in North America*, it has been used widely in the British school system and many international aid organizations have supported its use, including UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). This support from organizations that are closest to the needs of the third world indicates that the Peters map does have significant merit.

*Since 2001, the Peters map has been published by ODT of Amherst, Massachusetts (www.odt.org).

Bigger AND On Top!

Almost all maps put the north pole at the top (Australia is a noteworthy exception).

Many respected organizations maintain that there can be a negative psychological impact of the Mercator size distortion. Having Europe and North America on top all the time seems to be adding insult to injury.

In the Mercator world, Europe and North America appear larger than they are AND they are on top.

At ORIANA, we wanted to give our other half a chance to be on top.

That is why the Earth is sometimes southside up.

If . . .

If we would walk a moon in the other person's moccasins,

If we would move towards a way of living that would resolve conflict without violence, and act without self-centered interest,

If we would spontaneously react with compassion rather than condemnation,

If we would do these things, what kind of a world could we create?

What do you think?

Thank You

Page Credits

John Walker

All photographs of Earth from space, site-wide.

http://www.fourmilab.to/

http://www.wallstreetgifts.com

U.S. Geological Survey

All map projections in the animation and the comparisons.

http://www.usgs.gov

http://www.trekdiary.com/

http://www.vabeach.com/

http://www.modelshipbuilding.com/

J. B. Krieger, Ohio Wesleyan University

http://web.owu.edu/

http://www.odt.org/ (several 'downside up maps', picture bio of Arno Peters)

Animations Stopped?

ORIANA's site uses animated sequences quite often. In some versions of some browsers, clicking on a link or a button causes all animations to stop. If this happens, you are probably using an older version of the browser.

Sometimes, you can restart an animation by mousing over it. However, most times you will have to reload or refresh the page. Downloading a newer version will probably solve the problem.

The Downside Up Earth

On this page:

Maps

The Mercator Projection

The Peters Projection

Bigger AND On Top!

If . . .

Page Credits

Thank you

On other pages:

Maps

The Earth Is:

The only way to accurately represent the Earth is with a sphere.

On a globe:

directions are accurate

distances are accurate

shapes are accurate

areas are accurate

Unfortunately, a globe has inherent disadvantages. Even the largest globe has a very small scale and shows relatively little detail. A globe is costly to reproduce and update, it's difficult to carry around, and it's bulky to store.

These disadvantages make a globe impractical in many applications. Paper, on the other hand, is relatively inexpensive, it's not hard to carry around, and it can be stored easily. And, you can change the paper size or change the scale to show as big or as small an area as you want.

The Problem Is:

As soon as the spherical Earth is 'projected' onto a flat piece of paper, things start getting distorted. Directions may be true, but areas aren't; distances may be true, but shapes aren't.

The Question Is:

What do you want to do with the map? What is the application?

Because there are a vast number of applications for maps, cartographers (mapmakers) and mathematicians have devised almost limitless ways to project the image of the globe onto paper. Every projection has its own set of strengths and weaknesses.

The onus is on you, the person who wants the map, to select the projection that best suits your needs. Or develop your own - which is what both Gerardus Mercator and Arno Peters did.

The Mercator Projection

When

In 1453 A.D., the Byzantine capital of Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks and the land bridge between Europe and the Far East fell with it. Only the west and south offered possible alternatives and so Europe took to the seas.

In an environment without landmarks, getting from here to there was an immense challenge, especially when there was no clear understanding of where 'there' was - at that time, most still believed that the world was flat.

What

New tools were needed and, in 1569, Gerardus Mercator provided one. Now known as the Mercator map, this navigational tool had the great advantage that lines on the map are 'rhumb lines'.

That means that a line drawn between any two points on the map gives the correct compass bearing for getting from the first point to the second point. For seafarers on the open ocean in craft that were tiny by today's standards, the Mercator map was a powerful asset.

Mastery of the seas has played a critical role in global affairs ever since and one side-effect is that the Mercator map has become the defacto standard 'map of the world' in nearly every classroom around the world.

The Problem Is:

On the Mercator projection, directions are true but distances, shapes, and areas are not. In particular, the distortion of areas increases as one moves away from the equator. For example, Greenland and Africa appear to be the same size, where in fact, Africa is fourteen times larger than Greenland.

Actual areas are:

Africa

20.3% of Earth's land area

30,065,107 sq.km. (11,608,156 sq.mi.)

Europe

6.7% of Earth's land area

9,938,037 sq.km. (3,837,082 sq.mi.)

Africa is about three times larger than Europe.

North America

16.3% of Earth's land area

24,256,087 sq.km. (9,365,290 sq.mi.)

South America

12.0% of Earth's land area

17,819,065 sq.km. (6,879,952 sq.mi.

North America is only about one and one-third times larger than South America.

In a world where might is right and bigger is better, it can and has been argued that the Mercator projection has the psychological impact of demeaning people who are already downtrodden, while enhancing a position of superiority for the first world nations.

The fact that most students around the world use the Mercator map exacerbates the issue. Though many teachers do explain the inaccuracy of the Mercator map, over 90% of our sensory input is through our eyes.

As the proverb goes: seeing is believing.

That is the problem.

The Question Is:

What to do about it?

Arno Peters proposed a solution.

The Peters Projection

In his projection, Peters chose to make areas accurate. Direction, distance, and shape are sacrificed but the resulting map does provide a much more realistic view of the actual relative sizes of the various regions of the planet.

*Since 2001, the Peters map has been published by ODT of Amherst, Massachusetts (www.odt.org).

Bigger AND On Top!

Almost all maps put the north pole at the top (Australia is a noteworthy exception).

Many respected organizations maintain that there can be a negative psychological impact of the Mercator size distortion. Having Europe and North America on top all the time seems to be adding insult to injury.

In the Mercator world, Europe and North America appear larger than they are AND they are on top.

At ORIANA, we wanted to give our other half a chance to be on top.

That is why the Earth is sometimes southside up.

If . . .

If we would walk a moon in the other person's moccasins,

If we would move towards a way of living that would resolve conflict without violence, and act without self-centered interest,

If we would spontaneously react with compassion rather than condemnation,

If we would do these things, what kind of a world could we create?

What do you think?

Thank You

Page Credits

Animations Stopped?

ORIANA's site uses animated sequences quite often. In some versions of some browsers, clicking on a link or a button causes all animations to stop. If this happens, you are probably using an older version of the browser.

Sometimes, you can restart an animation by mousing over it. However, most times you will have to reload or refresh the page. Downloading a newer version will probably solve the problem.

The only consolation is that the page will probably load faster the second time around.