12 maps that changed our world view

12 maps that changed our world view

Following this great adventure tool, we go through 12 maps that have changed our worldview

There are few things that evoke the romance of adventure like a map – especially old maps. Full of exotic names (Persia, Abyssinia, Rhodesia!) and ancient lettering, they evoke a time when people sacrificed their lives for adventure and exploration.

Cards raise hopes and awaken dreams. They encourage one to leave the safe haven and, in the words of Mark Twain, to explore, to dream, to discover.

Maps that have changed our view of the world

Following this great adventure tool, we run through 12 maps that have changed our worldview, starting where else but Greece?

1. Anaximander world map, 6th century BC

alt="maps-changed-world-Anaximander">(Image: Public Domain)

First in our list of maps that changed our world view is the Anaximander world map.

Anaximander was a Greek philosopher who lived in the 6th century BC. lived and was probably the founder of cartography. His map is probably the first in the known world.

Anaximander's world was very different from ours: it included only the Mediterranean and three major landmasses: Europe, Asia and Libya, which is modern-day North Africa. Most importantly, it gave future cartographers something to build on and encouraged trade, exploration and unification.

2. Eratosthenes' Map of the Known World, 194 BC

300 years later the “father of geography” was born. Eratosthenes (another Greek) developed Anaximander's map and the work of other pioneers, advancing the map of the known world.

alt=“Map-changed-world-Eratosthenes-cropped”>(Image: Public Domain)

Eratosthenes inserted grid lines of longitude and latitude and indicated the existence of poles and equators on his maps. In his major work Geografieka, 400 cities and their places were depicted. Geography was born.

3. Ptolemy's world map, around 150

The Greeks pretty much had a lock on early cartography and Ptolemy's work just cemented that. The (deep breath) Mathematician, astronomer, geographer, and astrologer Claudius Ptolemy lived in the late first and early second centuries, but his maps were still used nearly 1,500 years later.

alt=“Map-changed-world-Ptolemy”>(Image: Public Domain)

Ptolemy realized that he knew only a small part of the world, although it encompassed much larger tracts of land from China in the east to the mid-Atlantic in the west. Most of Europe has been mapped along with larger areas of Africa.

4. Fra Mauro world map, around 1450

This guy is not Greek! He's an Italian monk and a bit of a hippie. His map is considered “the greatest monument of medieval cartography,” which is pretty special considering he drew it upside down. Way out there, man.

alt=“Maps that have changed our view of the world-Fra_Mauro”>(Image: Public Domain)

Despite the reversal, the map is exceptionally accurate compared to its predecessors. It contains detailed representations of largely unmapped areas of India, Africa, China and Japan.

He was also one of the first to point out that the Indian Ocean was not closed and that Africa could be circumnavigated from its southern end. Or would that be north...

5. Mercator's world map, 1569

Next in our list of maps that changed our world view is a map that is responsible for some of the biggest misunderstandings in cartography.

alt=“Maps that have changed our world view Mercator”>(Image: Public Domain)

That's why Greenland looks as big as Africa on Google Maps. Gerardus Mercator's 1569 world map is both a brilliant and controversial work.

Mercator's map was designed to facilitate navigation and, to quote the man himself, "to spread the surface of the sphere on a plane so that the positions of the places on all sides correspond to each other, both in true direction and distance, and as correct latitudes and longitudes."

The mathematics behind the Mercator projection is sound and that is why it is the most popular map projection still used and viewed this way today.

6. Atlas Major, 1634

The Atlas was born in Amsterdam and coffee tables have never looked the same since. Atlas Maior was the final version of Joan Blaeu's World Atlas.

alt=“Maps that have changed our view of the world-Bleau”>Public domain(Image: Public Domain)

It contained 594 maps and around 3,000 pages of text. It was the largest and most expensive book published in the 17th century. I'm guessing your atlas is also the largest and most expensive book on your bookshelf?

7. Life and work of the people in London, 1889

It's good to know where the poor live. Or so Charles Booth thought. He was a London-based businessman who believed that poverty estimates in London were exaggerated.

alt=“Maps that changed the way we view the world”>(Image: Wellcome Trust, Creative Commons)

He set out to prove them wrong by creating this map, and instead proved exactly the opposite: that up to a third of Londoners lived in poverty.

The idea of ​​mapping health and inequality would be invaluable in understanding and addressing social welfare.

8. Broad Street Cholera Map, 1854

When cholera broke out in London in 1854, doctor John Snow challenged the popular belief that it was caused by “bad air.” He thought otherwise and began drawing points on a map of London that represented known cases of cholera.

alt=“Maps that have changed our view of the world – cholera”>(Image: Public Domain)

His method proved that it wasn't bad air at all, but bad water from a street pump. The connection may sound trivial, but in reality Snow is responsible for saving millions of lives. His work was a significant event in the history of public health and is considered a founding event in the science of epidemiology.

9. Ordnance Survey (OS) maps, 1791 – present

Thanks to these handy maps, I know exactly where the nearest pub is whenever I walk around Dartmoor. Marked on the map is a small blue beer mug that ensures I can settle into a comfortable chair next to a warm fire each evening and drink myself into my sleeping bag.

alt=“Official topographic map”>(Image: Public Domain)

In fact, these maps are some of the best and most important in world history. The techniques of trigonometry, geometry and triangulation used in their creation have been responsible for the advancement of cartography, navigation and discovery over the last 200 years. Not to mention the safety of British hikers.

10. Peter's world map, 1973

In 1973, filmmaker Arno Peters presented a world map based on the work of 19th-century clergyman James Gall. Therefore, the Gall-Peters map projection is my favorite map projection. (Yes, I have a favorite map projection – doesn’t everyone?)

alt=“Peter’s world map”>(Image: Strebe, Creative Commons)

This projection uses a mathematical formula to project equal size areas on the globe as the same size on the map. For example, contrary to the Mercator projection, Africa is shown at its true size: 14 times larger than Greenland (just compare it to the map below).

11. Google Maps, 2005 – present

With its online mapping service, Google has not only changed how we see the world, but probably also the world itself. Thanks to Google, we know exactly where our house is, because that's what we all did first when Street View came out in 2007, right?

alt="google world map">(Image: Google Maps)

In fact, thanks to the various services and mobile apps, we know exactly where everything is at all times. Kia won't let us leave the house until we look up our destination on Google Maps. I'm less enthusiastic. They use the Mercator projection, you see. Bah.

12. Facebook Connection Map, 2010

Yesterday was Christmas and from here in Tahiti I exchanged ideas on Facebook with friends from all over the USA, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Facebook intern Paul Butler created this map based on where people live relative to their Facebook friends.

alt="Facebook connection map">(Image: Facebook)

Here's what he said: "What really struck me was knowing that the lines don't represent coastlines or rivers or political boundaries, but real human relationships."

In many ways the world is so interconnected now.

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If you enjoyed this article then we recommend Simon Garfield's excellent On The Map: Why the world sees the way it does.
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