this post was submitted on 24 Jan 2026
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Science Memes

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[–] Mycatiskai@lemmy.ca 2 points 6 hours ago (3 children)

They want a 2d map of earth but with every continent to true size at scale, rather than Mercator projection where the northern hemisphere is expanded to increase their importance over the southern hemisphere.

That's not why Mercator exists

[–] scala@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 hours ago
[–] snapoff@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Mercator wasn’t created in order to increase importance of the northern hemisphere, but to allow for directional rhumb lines to be drawn for shipping. For its intended purpose of navigation, it does an excellent job.

[–] Mycatiskai@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago) (2 children)

It may not be the intended purpose but I certainly does change how the world is seen by everyone using it to warp the mind's eye to how the world actually physically is.

Edit: Does it do an excellent job for navigational purposes if you are shipping from Japan to Brazil or it it only excellent for shipping from the northern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere?

[–] SlurpingPus@lemmy.world 3 points 1 hour ago

Do you seriously think that the geometrical properties of the projection change below the equator? You need to learn this thing called geometry.

[–] tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 hour ago

It works for any shipping lines

The Mercator projection was designed for use in marine navigation because of its unique property of representing any course of constant bearing as a straight segment. Such a course, known as a rhumb (alternately called a rhumb line or loxodrome) is preferred in marine navigation because ships can sail in a constant compass direction.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_projection