Author: George Kenneth BoycePublisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 139
Book Description
A Letter of Mercator concerning his Ptolemy
Author: George Kenneth BoycePublisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 139
Book Description
Mercator
Author: Nicholas CranePublisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1466880139
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 500
Book Description
An enthralling biography of the man who created the first real map of the world and changed civilization Born at the dawn of the age of discovery, Gerhard Mercator lived in an era of formidable intellectual and scientific advances. At the center of these developments were the cartographers who painstakingly pieced together the evidence to create ever more accurate pictures of the planet. Mercator was the greatest of all of them-a poor farm boy who attended one of Europe's top universities, was persecuted and imprisoned by the Inquisition, but survived to coin the term "atlas" and to produce the so-called projection for which he is known. Devoutly religious, yet gripped by Aristotelian science, Mercator struggled to reconcile the two, a conflict mirrored by the growing clash in Europe between humanism and the Church. Mercator solved the dimensional riddle that had vexed cosmographers for so long: How could the three-dimensional globe be converted into a two-dimensional map while retaining true compass bearings? The projection revolutionized navigation and has become the most common worldview. Nicholas Crane-a fellow geographer-has combined a keen eye for historical detail with a gift for vivid storytelling to produce a masterful biography of the man who mapped the planet.
The World of Gerard Mercator
Author: Andrew TaylorPublisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 080271806X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 308
Book Description
The story of discovery and mapmaking is one of pushing back shadows," writes Andrew Taylor, and "none in the last two thousand years achieved as much as Gerard Mercator in extending the boundaries of what could be comprehended." His life encompassed most of the turbulent, extraordinary sixteenth century, a time when revolutions would engulf religion, science, and civilization. Almost extinguished by the Inquisition, Mercator's genius lay in making maps, and his achievement did nothing less than revolutionize the study of geography. Appropriately for an era undergoing radical change, Mercator was full of contradiction, tied to knowledge and beliefs of the past while forging a new path. He never traveled beyond northern Europe, yet he had the imagination to draw the entire world anew and to solve a problem that had baffled sailors and scientists for centuries: how a curved Earth could be faithfully rendered on a flat surface so as to allow for accurate navigation. His "projection" was so visionary that it is used by NASA to map Mars today. Andrew Taylor has beautifully captured Mercator amidst the turmoil and opportunity of his times and the luminaries who inspired his talent-his teacher and business partner, Gemma Frisius; the English magus, John Dee; his benefactor, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, his cartographic collaborator, Abraham Ortelius. The World of Gerard Mercator is a masterful biography of one of the men most responsible for the modern world.
A Letter on the Government of the Cape of Good Hope
Author: Sir Rufane Shaw DonkinPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Cape of Good Hope (South Africa)
Languages : en
Pages : 484
Book Description
The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America
Author: Bibliographical Society of AmericaPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Bibliography
Languages : en
Pages : 364
Book Description
Rhumb Lines and Map Wars
Author: Mark MonmonierPublisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226534324
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
In Rhumb Lines and Map Wars, Mark Monmonier offers an insightful, richly illustrated account of the controversies surrounding Flemish cartographer Gerard Mercator's legacy. He takes us back to 1569, when Mercator announced a clever method of portraying the earth on a flat surface, creating the first projection to take into account the earth's roundness. As Monmonier shows, mariners benefited most from Mercator's projection, which allowed for easy navigation of the high seas with rhumb lines—clear-cut routes with a constant compass bearing—for true direction. But the projection's popularity among nineteenth-century sailors led to its overuse—often in inappropriate, non-navigational ways—for wall maps, world atlases, and geopolitical propaganda. Because it distorts the proportionate size of countries, the Mercator map was criticized for inflating Europe and North America in a promotion of colonialism. In 1974, German historian Arno Peters proffered his own map, on which countries were ostensibly drawn in true proportion to one another. In the ensuing "map wars" of the 1970s and 1980s, these dueling projections vied for public support—with varying degrees of success. Widely acclaimed for his accessible, intelligent books on maps and mapping, Monmonier here examines the uses and limitations of one of cartography's most significant innovations. With informed skepticism, he offers insightful interpretations of why well-intentioned clerics and development advocates rallied around the Peters projection, which flagrantly distorted the shape of Third World nations; why journalists covering the controversy ignored alternative world maps and other key issues; and how a few postmodern writers defended the Peters worldview with a self-serving overstatement of the power of maps. Rhumb Lines and Map Wars is vintage Monmonier: historically rich, beautifully written, and fully engaged with the issues of our time.
The National Union Catalog, Pre-1956 Imprints
Author: The Original Writings and Correspondence of the Two Richard Hakluyts
Author: E.G.R. TaylorPublisher: Routledge
ISBN: 131702205X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 442
Book Description
Edited with introduction and notes. The main pagination of this and the following volume (Second Series 77) is continuous. This is a new print-on-demand hardback edition of the volume first published in 1935.
Geography of Claudius Ptolemy
Author: Claudius PtolemyPublisher: Cosimo Classics
ISBN: 9781605204383
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Geography of Claudius Ptolemy, originally titled Geographia and written in the second century, is a depiction of the geography of the Roman Empire at the time. Though inaccurate due to Ptolemy's varying methods of measurement and use of outdated data, Geography of Claudius Ptolemy is nonetheless an excellent example of ancient geographical study and scientific method. This edition contains more than 40 maps and illustrations, reproduced based on Ptolemy's original manuscript. It remains a fascinating read for students of scientific history and Greek influence. CLAUDIUS PTOLEMY (A.D. 90- A.D. 168) was a poet, mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, and geographer who wrote in Greek, though he was a Roman citizen. He is most well-known for three scientific treatises he wrote on astronomy, astrology, and geography, respectively titled Almagest, Apotelesmatika, and Geographia. His work influenced early Islamic and European studies, which in turn influenced much of the modern world. Ptolemy died in Alexandria as a member of Greek society.
Author: