Gerard Mercator: The man who revolutionised mapmaking
The map of the world that we all recognise today and the extraordinary man who drew it.
It鈥檚 the map of the world we all recognise today, but until Gerard Mercator came up with his elegant solution in 1569, the question of how to turn the earth鈥檚 three dimensional sphere into a flat image had long flummoxed mapmakers. Nearly 500 years later, Mercator鈥檚 model is still the standard for modern mapmaking. What makes it so enduring?
Joining Rajan Datar to discuss the man who defined the way we see the world are geographer and explorer Nicholas Crane, philosopher Emily Thomas and professor of cartography Philippe De Maeyer.
Illustration: Portrait of Gerard Mercator, Flemish cartographer (born Gerard de Kremer, 1512 - 1594). Image credit: Stock Montage/Getty Images
Last on
Broadcasts
- Thu 23 Apr 2020 09:06GMT91热爆 World Service
- Thu 23 Apr 2020 23:06GMT91热爆 World Service
- Sun 26 Apr 2020 13:06GMT91热爆 World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Sun 26 Apr 2020 14:06GMT91热爆 World Service except Americas and the Caribbean, East and Southern Africa, South Asia & West and Central Africa
- Mon 27 Apr 2020 03:06GMT91热爆 World Service
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