The Mercator projection gets a lot of grief for distorting the relative sizes of different land masses, but Mercator’s map was actually pretty good at helping people navigate long distances at sea.

Research:

"A new view: A new world map projection seeks to minimse the problems inherent in flattening the globe." Geographical, vol. 93, no. 4, Apr. 2021, pp. 6+. Gale In Context: Science, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A669328662/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=ab5b9ea8. Accessed 4 May 2022.
Battersby, Sarah E. et al. “Implications of Web Mercator and Its Use in Online Mapping.” Cartographica: The International Journal for Geographic Information and Geovisualization, Volume 49, Number 2, Summer 2014. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/547504
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "cylindrical projection". Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Oct. 2007, https://www.britannica.com/science/cylindrical-projection. Accessed 5 May 2022.
DiSpezio, Michael A. “Seafarers, great circles, and a tad of rhumb: Understanding the Mercator Misconception.” Science Scope , NOVEMBER 2010, Vol. 34, No. 3. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43182923
Freitas, Pedro. “Pedro Nunes and Mercator: a Map From a Table of Rhumbs.” International Center for Mathematics. Bulletin #37. October 2016. http://www.cim.pt/magazines/bulletin/3/article/31/pdf
Gaspar, Joaquim Alves and Henrique Leitão. “Squaring the Circle: How Mercator Constructed His Projection in 1569.” Imago Mundi, Vol. 66, No. 1 (2014). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24270927
"Gerardus Mercator." Science and Its Times, edited by Neil Schlager and Josh Lauer, vol. 3, Gale, 2001. Gale In Context: Science, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K2643411143/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=40780a22. Accessed 4 May 2022.
Harvey, PDA. “Portolan charts before 1400.” British Library. https://www.bl.uk/picturing-places/articles/portolan-charts-before-1400
History Today. “Birth of Gerardus Mercator.” March 2012.
"Introduction of the Mercator World Map Revolutionizes Nautical Navigation." Science and Its Times, edited by Neil Schlager and Josh Lauer, vol. 3, Gale, 2001. Gale In Context: Science, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CV2643450266/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=b5b64a31. Accessed 4 May 2022.
Monmonier, Mark. “Rhumb Lines and Map Wars: A Social History of the Mercator Projection.” University of Chicago Press. 2004.
Sokol, Joshua. “Can This New Map Fix Our Distorted Views of the World?” New York Times. 2/24/2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/science/new-world-map.html

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