Jennifer Winchell

English 212
3/15/15
It is obvious to everyone that the world is a spherical shape and that a globe is a scaled
down version of the earth. It is also known by many people that globes are not a particularly
good means of direction because they are an inconvenient size and shape so they can't simply be
stored in a pocket like paper maps can. They are also bad representations because they are not
helpful when it comes to larger scales, such as finding directions in a big, unfamiliar city. To
somewhat fix this problem, cardiographers are using a method called map projections in order
to transfer the Earths curved surface onto a 2-D flat surface by using mathematical equations.
There are two types of map projections that are commonly used by most cartographers,
which are Peters Projection and the Mercator Projection. Although they are both used quite
frequently, there will always be flaws with both of them because there will always be someone
who isnt happy with what they see on their map. Both of these maps are rectangular, which
makes them both distorted images for the spherical shape of the Earth. Map projections minimize
distortions in some areas, but that leads to maximizing distortions and errors in some other areas.
While some map projections are only attempts to moderately distort all of these properties, there
will always be distortions while using map projections.
The Peters Projection, which is known as the cylindrical equal-area projection, was
created by German historian and journalist named Arno Peters, in 1974. He brought this idea to a
Conference in Germany, which produced a roaring debate; the first English version of the map
was pubished in 1983. On his map, the coordinates were rectangular with parallel lines of
latitude and longitude. According to Arno, This map more fairly displays third world countries
than the popular Mercator projections map, which distorts and dramatically enlarges the size of
Eurasian and North American countries. There are so many types of map projections and each

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English 212
3/15/15
has certain strengths and weaknesses and picking which map projections to use is determined in
the way the map is going to be used and the Peters Projection is an area accurate map.
The Mercator Map Projection was

introduced in 1569, by Gerardus Mercator to use

as a navigation tool. Just like the Peters
Projection, the coordinates are rectangular with parallel lines of latitude and longitude. This
projection has many more flaws than the Peters Projection because it distorts the size of more
landmasses; therefore, it should only be used for navigation because thats what it was originally
created for. It was mostly used for marine navigation because all of the straight lines on the map
are lines of constant azimuth: The arc of the horizon measured clockwise from the south point,
in astronomy, or from the north point, in navigation, to the point where a vertical circle through a
given heavenly body intersects the horizon (dictionary.com). The Mercator Map Projection
should not be used for world maps because the scale is distorted; areas farther away from the
equator are increasingly larger than what they should be. For example: Greenland appears to be
larger than the continent of South America, but in actuality, Greenland is much smaller.
It is very hard to decide which map is appropriate to use in which type of setting. Even
though there really is no way to make a perfectly non-distorted map, its important to think
which map will be able to get rid of as many flaws as possible. According to Harley, Maps are

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English 212
3/15/15
never value-free images; except in the narrowest Euclidean sense they are not in themselves
either true or false. In order to better understand what he is saying, it is important to look back
and think about the two types of map projections that were stated earlier. There is quite a big
difference between the two and there are plenty of other map projections that werent even
mentioned. How does anyone really know what map is appropriate to use when they need to use
one?
We as a society were manipulated into believing that the map we saw on the wall of our
classrooms as children were correct. Harley also states, Both in the selectivity of their content
and in their signs and styles of representation, maps are a way of conceiving, articulating, and
structuring the human world which is biased towards, promoted by, and exerts influence upon
particular sets of social relations. What Harley is trying to say here, is that it all depends how
the maps are taken. In other words, some maps are made differently in order to please certain
people. Maps differ from activity to activity; the same map isnt use for hiking and driving a car.
Since every map is distorted in some way, no map is suitable for all tasks.
Most people believe that we all look at the same map, but there are people all around the
world who believe in and use different kinds of maps. Someone from a different country of
continent may believe that they live in the center of the world. Take Australia, for example.
According to the map that everyone in the United States looks at, Australia is more towards the
bottom right corner. Perhaps in Australia, they are at the center of the map. Thinking about this
puts so many other options into perspective. Listening to the video on TED talks about maps,
(Derek Sivers: Weird or Just Different), makes you realize that everyone has a different view
of the world. Derek Sivers makes a lot of sense when he talked about the different ways to find

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3/15/15
where someone lives. If someone from a foreign country, such as Japan would ask someone from
the United States what block they are standing on, the person from the U.S. will not know the
answer because blocks dont have names, streets do. In Japan, the roles are reversed and blocks
have names, but streets dont.
Overall, there are a lot of map projections, which works for most people. Between the
Peters Projection map and the Mercator Projection map, its not simply which one is more
accurate, its more of which one is less bias towards what people are looking for. Someone who
is hiking may want to use one, and someone going on an unknown road trip, may want to use a
different one. It all just depends on what way you look at it and which map youre more
comfortable with. Theres really no way to decide which map or map projection is better because
all maps are fairly accurate. Map projections are just a way to help minimize flaws and biases in
certain regions.

Jennifer Winchell
English 212
3/15/15
Works Cited
Dana, Peter. "Map Projection Overview." Map Projections. 11 Sept. 2014. Web. 8 Feb. 2015.
[http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/mapproj/mapproj_f.html]
Harley, J.B. "Theoretical Perspectives." The Iconography of Landscape: Maps, Knowledge, and
Power. Vol. Iii. Cambridge, New York, 1988. 278. Print.
Rosenberg, Matt. "Peters Projection vs. Mercator Projection." About.com Geography. Web. 8
Feb. 2015. [http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa030201a.htm]
Sivers, Derek. "Weird, or Just Different?" TED. 1 Nov. 2009. Web. 8 Feb. 2015.
[http://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_weird_or_just_different#t-13867]