Appendix 2: Mercator in class activity

Mercator wrote, “In making this representation of the world we had…to spread on the plane the surface of the sphere in such a way that the positions of places shall correspond on all sides with each other both in so far as true direction and distance are concerned and as concerns correct longitudes and latitudes…With this intention we have had to employ a new proportion and a new arrangement of the meridians with reference to the parallels…It is for these reasons that we have progressively increased the degrees of latitude towards each pole in proportion to the lengthening of the parallels with reference to the equator.” (Rickey, 1980)