Mercator was also the first to use and popularise the concept of the atlas as a collection of maps.Ĭelestial map by the cartographer Frederik de Wit, 17th centuryĬartography or map-making is the study and practice of crafting representations of the Earth upon a flat surface (see History of cartography), and one who makes maps is called a cartographer. The Mercator Projection, developed by Flemish geographer Gerardus Mercator, was widely used as the standard two-dimensional projection of the earth for world maps until the late 20th century, when more accurate projections were formulated. In their most simple form maps are two dimensional constructs, however since the age of Classical Greece maps have also been projected onto a three-dimensional sphere known as a globe. The earliest surviving maps include cave paintings and etchings on tusk and stone, followed by extensive maps produced by ancient Babylon, Greece and Rome, China, and India. Maps have been one of the most important human inventions for millennia, allowing humans to explain and navigate their way through the world.
The history of cartography traces the development of cartography, or mapmaking technology, in human history. Tabula Rogeriana, one of the most advanced early world maps, by Muhammad al-Idrisi, 1154 Thus, "map" became a shortened term referring to a two-dimensional representation of the surface of the world. The word "map" comes from the medieval Latin: Mappa mundi, wherein mappa meant 'napkin' or 'cloth' and mundi 'the world'. The space being mapped may be two dimensional, such as the surface of the earth, three dimensional, such as the interior of the earth, or even more abstract spaces of any dimension, such as arise in modeling phenomena having many independent variables.Īlthough the earliest maps known are of the heavens, geographic maps of territory have a very long tradition and exist from ancient times. Although most commonly used to depict geography, maps may represent any space, real or fictional, without regard to context or scale, such as in brain mapping, DNA mapping, or computer network topology mapping. Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes.
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