The document discusses map projections and their impact on historical perceptions, emphasizing the purpose of maps as simplified representations of the earth. It highlights various map projections such as Mercator, Robinson, and Peters, each with distinct advantages and distortions. Additionally, the document questions traditional continental divisions, advocating for a regional classification that better reflects cultural and historical realities.

1. Map Projections &
Their Effects on
Perceptions in
the Study of
World History

2. What is a map?
• A generalized view of an area, usually
some portion of Earth’s surface, as seen
from above at a greatly reduced size
• Any geographical image of the
environment
• A two-dimensional representation of the
spatial distribution of selected phenomena

3. Why make a map?
• To represent a larger area than we can
see
• To show a phenomenon or process we
can’t see with our eyes
• To present information concisely
• To show spatial relationships

4. Represent a larger area

5. Show
what
we
can’t
see

6. Present info concisely

7. Show spatial
relationships

8. What should we think about
when we read maps? What do
cartographers think about?
• How will the flat map represent a curved
surface? (projection)
• Maps are selective views of reality
(simplification)
• Size of the map relative to reality (scale)
• What’s on the map (symbolization)
• What size of unit will be measured by the map
(aggregation)
• What type of map is being used? (reference or
thematic)

9. “Map Projection”
• The Earth is a sphere – it is accurately represented in
the form of a globe.
• Globe is a limited tool
• Projection – the scientific method of transferring
locations on Earth’s surface to a flat map

10. Create your own projection
· Think of the beach ball as Earth.
· Identify and mark (with your sharpie) on the grapefruit the locations of the
North Pole and South Pole.
· Then locate the spot that is halfway between the two poles and use a marker
to draw a line around the Earth at that point, which geographers refer to
as the equator.
· Draw a few lines of longitude on the map, including a “prime meridian”
· Then draw shapes to represent the continents on Earth.
· Use the scissors to cut the beach ball – attempt to make the new map as flat
as possible
- Next, try to create from the sphere (grapefruit) a map that is flat and
readable.
Reflection Question:
Are you able to create an accurate 2-D map from the grapefruit peel? Explain
the activity and what is different from the grapefruit map to the flat map?

11. Distortion
• Earth on a flat piece of paper creates distortions. Four
types of distortions can result:
– The shape of an area can be distorted, so that it
appears more elongated or squat than in reality
– The distance between two points may become
increased or decreased
– The relative size of different areas may be altered, so
that one area may appear larger than another on a
map but is in reality smaller
– The direction from one place to another can be
distorted

12. Medieval European T-O Map. In medieval Europe one of the
most common forms of rendering the earth was the mappae
mundi of which more than a thousand have survived. The T-O
map is one kind of mappae mundi. The T-O image reproduced
here comes from the encyclopedia of knowledge produced by
Isidore, Bishop of Seville, in 630 A.D., and was printed in
Augsburg in 1472.

13. The Maya Cosmos. Adopted with modifications from Linda Schele and
David Freidel, A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya
(N.Y.: William Morrow, 1990), p. 67, fig. 2:1. Drawing by Linda Schele,
courtesy Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc.
(permissions Nov. 7, 2002).

14. An ancient map that strongly suggests Chinese sailors were first to round the world.

15. The Mercator Projection

16. The Mercator Projection
• Direction is true everywhere on his map
• Distorts size of areas

17. The Robinson Projection

18. The Robinson Projection
• Tries to correct for the Mercator
Projection’s distortions by curving distorted
areas inwards.
• Attempts to balance all distortions by
making errors in all four ways:
– Shape
– Size
– Distance
– Direction

19. The Peters Projection

20. The Peters Projection
• Focuses on keeping land masses equal in
area. Shapes are distorted.

21. The West Wing: Map
Projections
What does this clip reveal about
the importance of map
projections?

22. Other Projections

23. A modern modification of the Mercator projection is Miller's
cylindrical projection that decreases the amount of distortion in
the high latitudes while setting the earth's surface on a rectangular
grid.

24. Miller World Map Centered Along 90th West Meridian . It projects an
American perspective on the world.

25. Interrupted Projection/
Homolsoline Projection

26. Rearranged Map: Brazil Perspective,

27. Seventeenth Century Atlantic
Basin. Lines indicate direction of
movement of goods from Europe
and Africa to the Americas and
from the Americas to Asia. Europe
was the source of financial and
commercial activity, while Africa
was primarily important for the
slave trade—so that the main
cultural impacts were those of
Europe upon Africa, and Africa
upon America. This was the
transoceanic arena in which an
Atlantic World emerged in the Age
of Empire, and the geographical
stage for cross-cultural
encounters, Spanish treasure
fleets, a transatlantic slave trade,
and the movement of European
peoples.
Adopted with permission from D.W. Meining, The
Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on
500 Years of History. Volume 1, Atlantic America,
1492–1800 (Yale University Press, 1986), p. 56

29. North America appears to be more involved in the Pacific Basin than South
America (its eastward location pulling it toward the Atlantic). Finally, this
map reveals a major truth about the earth, and that is that the earth is
mostly water not land, the Pacific Ocean amounting to 64,000,000 square
miles (over twice the size of the Atlantic Ocean).

30. Miller World Map Centered on 180 Meridian: The Pacific Perspective.
South is at top of map. After 1850, a Pacific perspective must be added. With
the United States acquiring Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, and Hawaii (and taking
possession of the Philippines), followed by Pearl Harbor and the Pacific theater
of World War II, the strategic importance of the Pacific for the United States
becomes obvious. With China emerging as a major power, the twenty-first
century may become the Pacific century.

31. The Peters Projection Map from
Two Perspectives: In 1974, as
an effort to reduce the political bias
of conventional maps, Arno Peters
created the 'Peters Projection' of
the world so that one square inch
anywhere on the map represents
an equal number of square miles
of the earth's surface.

32. Comparing Projections

33. "Political" Map

34. The Myth of Continents

37. The Myth of Continents
• The traditional notion of continents can be abandoned
(or at least modified). The idea of a North American
continent, separate from South America, encourages
false dichotomies that do not reflect actual biological,
geological, and cultural realities, and that overlooks
many themes that parallel the history of both regions
(from cowboy culture to urbanization).
• By substituting a world regionalism scheme for the
continental one, today's students will be using a regional
classification that better fits the realities of ethnicity,
culture, and history. This, then, would be the beginning
of an attempt to look at the New Old World in a new way.

38. Regional World Map
http://desip.igc.org/worldmap.html

39. Which map projection does the College Board use in their WHAP materials?