An original Map Men poster design, featuring the controversial global globe projection of choice by Gerard Mercator. It comes in the highest quality finish, and is available in THREE different sizes.
The text on the poster reads as follows:
The Flem, Gerard Mercator, first published this map projection in 1569. Of course, his continental outlines were decidedly dodgier than these, because the New World in particular was still being 'discovered' by Europeans. But whilst his map has since been updated, his projection lives on as a firm global favourite.
To understand how it works, imagine the globe being stretched to create a cylinder, one whose diameter is the same as the equator (so the world has effectively got taller, but not thinner). This cylinder could then be unravelled to create a flat map - the Mercator Projection. The problem, inevitably, comes in the stretched bits; whilst land areas are true at the equator, they become exponentially distortedly larger the closer you get to the poles - which, incidentally, can never even appear on a mercator map. This results in an oversized Greenland, Antarctica and Russia.
Whilst many have decried its European enlargening and relative African/central Asian smallening, the projection's lasting success lied in its utility as a navigational tool. What Mercator had created was the first flat map where a straight line on the map actually correlated to a straight line in real life. Helpful, if you were a sailor. Unhelpful, if you were trying to reach the North Pole.
This poster has a partly glossy, partly matte finish and it'll add a touch of sophistication to any room.
• 10 mil (0.25 mm) thick
• Slightly glossy
• Fingerprint resistant