h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

All projections distort the image. It is never an exact replica of the ground, because it would have to be spherical rather than flat. Some projections preserve distance bu distort , others keep the shape of countries as close to correct as possible but distort their area. Mercator's projection keeps the directions accurate at the expense of distance, area and shape. If you draw a line between, say, London and New York on a Mercator map and find that it makes an angle of (say) 10 degrees south of west, then you can follow that compass bearing all the way and you will arrive in New York, although not by the shortest possible route. This can not be said of any other map projection.

That should have read "preserve distance but distort distance".

No it shouldn't.

It should have said "preserve distance but distort direction".

Ah, I understand, Gnomon. Thank you. I shall add a sentence to elucidate that lot

Fb

I think there's a whole 'nother entry in map projections There's masses of information about it here and there... I'm trying hard not to get sidetracked in this entry

Well, I think it looks great

I noticed a typo: Church Rome > Church of Rome

Nicely done!

Looking good, Frenchbean!

I can't believe no one has done an entry on GIS yet!

Another cracking bit of research Fb

Two uses of the word 'illustrate' in the opening paragraph... a bit too close together maybe?

"what was physically present on the ground, such as territorial boundaries"
Territorial boundaries often aren't physically there on the ground. Maybe hundreds, thousands of years ago, most boundaries would have been something physical - a river, for instance, but there are many boundaries in America, Africa, and Australia which follow lines of latitude and longitude. And what about a boundary that cuts across the middle of a lake or small inland sea, such as the US/Canadian border?

"between fields and the built up areas"
I wonder if there's another description you can use instead of 'bult up areas'? It kind of makes me think of something relatively modern like a town or a suburb. 'Settlements' perhaps? No, that's already been used twice in that paragraph. Communities?

"There were also maps of individual buildings"
That would be a plan rather than a map wouldn't it?

"Map making developed significantly with the Greeks"
Would 'Ancient Greeks' be more accurate?

"all carried map makers on board ship with them"
How about 'all took map makers along with them'?

Does Romweg need to be italicised?

"In 1513 the first atlas was produced, by Martin Waldseemuller, with 20 maps of France"
You can probably lose the first comma there, and bung an 'along with' after the second - might make the sentence flow a bit better. No, wait... that wouldn't work would it. How about 'In 1513 Martin Waldseemuller produced the first atlas, along with 20 maps of France'?

How about a link to http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk?

"The invention and development of both flying and photography in the late 19th Century"
Strictly speaking, flying (heavier than air) wasn't done until the early 20th C, and the Montgolfiers were ballooning in the 18th C.

And perhaps a link to one of the NASA websites showing maps of the planet Venus from the Magellan spacecraft?


Scout

Great entry, Frenchbean. It's very hard to give a brief history of something without omitting important information or over simplifying things - I think you've managed to avoid doing this.

I was a bit disappointed to see that the word 'cartography' was relegated to a single word footnote and a brief mention in the 'Maps for Colonial and Military Use' section. It would be nice to expand Footnote One a bit, to make it sound less brief. "Also know as cartography" would be better. A quick etymology of the word (see: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=cartography&r=67) would be very interesting.

I can't think of anything else wrong with this

Rocketman I've added a bit more to the footnote.

Gosho: who let you in? Thank you for the comments. I do appreciate the fact that people actually read the stuff I churn out

Illustrate

Territorial boundaries - point taken and edits made accordingly

I don't have a problem with built up areas They were urban and they were built up, even 4000 years ago Anybody else have a view on that?

The term map and plan are pretty much interchangeable and I'm not sure that a plan of a building isn't a map?

Ancient Greeks

Romweg is now in

Walseemuller's atlas sentence now reads better.

Link to OS and to Venus photos - good ideas Both in

Flying and photography sentence now changed.



We really do need a smiley, just for responding to Gosho's comments in PR. Oh and for Gnomon's sometimes too

Fb

Maps vs building plans, perhaps a bit of a jump but I have on several occasions driven or even flown into a strange city to measure the actual size of a building I have studied the plans for, and have located the building by sight rather then address. On one occasion I flew into Washington, DC late at night and by coincidence had booked a hotel directly across the street from my project building site. When I asked my cab driver if I was at the exact intersection where we were, he was convinced I must have been there before, even though it was my first visit to that area of the city.
One other special type of map you hint at might be better delineated is the navigational chart, either by boat and ship or airplane. They have specific detail such as water depth or land elevation and major marinas or airports shown, to a lesser extent road maps fit into this general category.

F S

Hi

As a relative beginner in the world of mapping I found the article to be informative and pitched at the right level. I appreciate it is difficult to know where to stop with such an article but I feel you have covered the subject well and given me some clues as to what areas on which I might like to find more information.
Congratulations

Hello kelpie
Thank you for those words.

FS Perhaps I should add something briefly about plans, nautical charts and maps all being different things? That would pick up on Gosho's comment about plans too I'll think about how to include it.

References made to plans and navigational charts

Fantastic!

Thank you!

Have I dealt with everybody's comments to their satisfaction?

Any more comments?

Fb

Three tiny changes and then it will be ready to be picked.

prehistorical --> prehistoric

from other parts of the world include bones --> from other parts of the world, include bones

reduces the distortion of the polar areas, which is characteristic of Mercator's projection -->
reduces the distortion of the polar areas that is a characteristic of Mercator's projection

Thank you Gnomon

I've attended to those

Any more?

There is an entry on Scale (A1035118) that might be worth referencing.

Cheers!