The document traces the history and development of maps from ancient times to the modern era. It discusses early maps created by Greek cartographers like Hecataeus, who depicted the world as a flat disc centered on Greece. Later maps showed the spherical earth concept accepted by Aristotle. Claudius Ptolemy created the first map to project the spherical earth onto a flat surface. During the medieval period, maps were dominated by religious views and placed Jerusalem at the center. Modern cartography advanced with explorers like Columbus and new mapmaking technologies. The first modern atlas was produced in the early 16th century.

7.  The map drawn
by Hecataeus in
the 6th century
B.C. shows the
world as an
island with
Greece at its
center.

8.  However, by the
time of Aristotle,
around 350 B.C.,
everyone
accepted the
spherical earth
concept.

9.  Claudius Ptolemy
of Alexandria was
the first to illustrate
the Earth as
spherical in his
world map, which
covered the Old
World from
latitudes of about
60°N to 30°S. He
projected the
spherical earth into
flat paper for the
first time.

10.  He also developed
an atlas of twenty-
eight maps. He
collated all known
information, and
produced his
Geografia in about
150 A.D., which was
to form the basis for
much of the
subsequent
mapping over 1000
years.

11.  Anaximander (611-
547 B.C.) was
believed to have
created one of
the earliest Greek
maps. His map
showed the known
world at that time,
consisting of
Southern Europe,
Western Asia
Minor, and the
northern margin of
Africa.

12.  A map made by
Erastosthenes
about 200 B.C.
showed, in
addition, the
broader outlines
of the British Isles,
a larger section
of Asia Minor
and a distorted
presentation of
India.

14.  During the Dark Ages as the Medieval
Period is also called, most world maps
were dominated by religious views
and while the Church of Rome was
the driving force behind mapmaking,
Jerusalem was the center of the
known world, reflecting the religious
doctrines of 14th century Europe.

15.  The Hereford Mappa
Mundi, dating from
1300, is typical of this
type of European
map, showing
Jerusalem at the
center and the east
to the top. The
Mappa Mundi was
drawn on a sheet of
vellum 64x54 inches,
supported by an oak
frame with the actual
map contained within
a circle 52 inches in
diameter.

17.  Christopher
Columbus

18.  Vasco De Gama

19.  Sebastian Cabot

20.  Amerigo Vespucci

21.  Ferdinand Magellan

23.  The Danish geographer Clausson Swart, drew
the first known map of Northern Europe in
1427.

24.  In 1941, Cardinal
Nicholas Krebs
developed the first
modern map of
Germany.

25.  In 1508 Rosselli
produced the first
map to show the
entire known world.

26.  In 1513, Martin
Waldseemuller produced
the first known atlas,
which was made up of
20 maps of France. He
was best known for
producing his map of
America in 1508, after
the exploration by
Amerigo Vespucci of the
New World. It was a huge
map, divided into 12
sheets and showed for
the first time that
America was not
connected to Asia.

28.  Maps were initially printed using carved
wooden blocks, until engraved copper plates
were introduced in the 16th century. These
were used until the end of the 19th Century,
when photographic technology replaced
them.

29.  The more famous maps were
made by Gerhard Kramer
better known as Mercator
followed. Gerardus Mercator
was the leading Belgian
geographer and
cartographer of the mid-16th
century. He developed the
cylindrical map projection
known as the Mercator
Projection in 1569. This map
projection still serves as the
basis of the projections of
modern day mapmakers.

31.  Maps are just representation of reality and not
reality itself. Mapmakers look at the face of the
earth and then decide what to place on the
map. The art and science of making maps is
called cartography.
 Maps are subjective and not objective as their
appearance and features all depend on the
mapmaker or cartographer.
 To illustrate this point, some of the maps, such
as highway maps are more or less cut and dry,
while a physical map may show some features
that best described the place being
represented graphically.

32.  A definition of a map would be a graphical
representation of features qualitative and
quantitative of the surface of the earth or
other planets.
 Maps have been made for more than 4,000
years and are made in greater numbers today
than ever before-sufficient proof of their
usefulness.
 Within the past few years, collections of maps,
called atlases, have been published in greater
numbers than any previous time.

33.  The modern emphasis on maps and atlases
reflects not only the needs of today’s armies,
navies, and air forces but also the desire of
every literate person to know about the world.
 The modern emphasis on maps and atlases
reflects not only the needs of today’s armies,
navies, and air forces but also the desire of
every literate person to know about the world.
 There is no apparent and to the use of maps,
whether for purposes of education, research,
general knowledge, travel, business, or
national defense.