Math and Map Making

Africa vs. the world

Africa doesn't look that big on the map.

In reality, Africa is bigger than the United States, China, India and a couple of European countries ... combined!

Mercator Puzzle

A fun on-line game to show how the Mercator projection changes the apparent size of a country depending on its latitude. The goal of the game is to drag the countries into their correct location on the map. Not as easy as you might think, especially with the smaller countries.

Drag the country outline over your location to compare how large that country is compared to your state or region.

If you don't know the position of a country, double click it to let the computer place it. This version of the puzzle displays different countries with each refresh.

The Quest for Longitude and the Rise of Greenwich

In 1492 when Columbus crossed the Atlantic, although latitude could be measured (typically from observations of the Pole Star), there was no reliable way of measuring a ship's longitude once out of sight of land. Charts were inaccurate and incomplete and much of the World remained unexplored. This article explores the various ideas for measuring longitude, using everything from the Moon to the satellites of Jupiter to the need for royal observatories.

50 Map Projections Types: A Visual Reference Guide

Who knew there were so many different ways to skin a cat, er, world.

What are Map Projections? (And Why They Are Deceiving to the Human Eye)

From the people who brought you 50 Map Projections, this post looks at how map projections are made and why different map projections have different strengths and weaknesses. They are preserving different attributes.

The Mathematics Of Map-Making In The Renaissance

Good for older students, this paper looks at the problem of map making and navigation – coming up with a way so that a ship's course could be plotted using a ruler. Today we know it as the Mercator projection.