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The Mercator projection (/ m ər ˈ k eɪ t ər /) is a conformal cylindrical map projection first presented by Flemish geographer and mapmaker Gerardus Mercator in 1569. In the 18th century, it became the standard map projection for navigation due to its property of representing rhumb lines as straight lines.
In normal aspect, pseudoconical projections represent the central meridian as a straight line, other meridians as complex curves, and parallels as circular arcs. Azimuthal In standard presentation, azimuthal projections map meridians as straight lines and parallels as complete, concentric circles. They are radially symmetrical.
The projection is known by several names: the (ellipsoidal) transverse Mercator in the US; Gauss conformal or Gauss–Krüger in Europe; or Gauss–Krüger transverse Mercator more generally. Other than just a synonym for the ellipsoidal transverse Mercator map projection, the term Gauss–Krüger may be used in other slightly different ways:
The most well-known map projection is the Mercator projection. [7]: 45 This map projection has the property of being conformal. However, it has been criticized throughout the 20th century for enlarging regions further from the equator.
(That is, the reciprocal of the cosine of the latitude become infinite). He therefore uses a completely different projection for the inset map of the north polar regions: an azimuthal equidistant projection. It took many years for Mercator's projection to gain wider acceptance. The following gallery shows the first maps in which it was employed.
Web Mercator is a slight variant of the Mercator projection, one used primarily in Web-based mapping programs. It uses the same formulas as the standard Mercator as used for small-scale maps. However, the Web Mercator uses the spherical formulas at all scales whereas large-scale Mercator maps normally use the ellipsoidal form of the projection.
Yet his projection remains the authority all the same. Today, when children learn geography in school, they might not see Mercator’s poorly proportioned countries and continents on a wall-mounted map. But they will likely see it through the glare of a screen: even Google Maps uses the Mercator projection.
The computer strategy game Neocolonialism developed by Esther Alter uses a south-up map, with the developer stating it is intended to "evoke discomfort" and to "exemplify the north-south dichotomy of the world, wherein the southern hemisphere is generally poorer than the northern hemisphere."