Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. World maps distort size and shape by design. Learn why projections matter and how they shape global understanding. (CREDIT: ...

Cartographers rely on the authority of maps to communicate locations, guide navigation at sea, and shape people’s perceptions of Earth. However, because all flat maps have compromises built into them, ...

The world map is a familiar sight on classroom walls and in atlases, but you might be surprised to learn that it’s not an accurate representation of the Earth. In fact, in terms of country and ...

For centuries, the Mercator projection has been one of the most recognizable representations of the world. Developed in 1569 during the height of maritime exploration, it was engineered with a ...

In classrooms, offices, and libraries across the United States, one world map appears again and again: the Mercator projection. Its familiarity makes it feel authoritative, even though it was never ...

How distorting are map projections? Here’s what four commonly used systems of projection do to a human head. From the 1921 publication Elements in Map Projection comes this striking demonstration of ...

Maps sit quietly in classrooms, on news websites and inside phone screens. They look settled and precise, but the world they show is always slightly bent out of shape. Because the Earth is round, any ...

IT is very satisfactory to find that at the present time care is being taken that the principles of map projection are being studied as soon as the use of maps is seriously undertaken. At one time ...