This process always results in distortion of some kind, and every type of map projection prioritizes different properties such as distance, shapes, area, or direction. Using the Web Mercator map ...

The most common type of map hugely distorts its true size, as this GIF by Tom Phillips shows. It starts showing how Greenland looks on a Mercator projection, but then Phillips drags the shape down ...

When this world map was charted in the 1600s according to the Mercator’s projection, the idea was that ships could use the lines of longitude and latitude as a from of navigation. The flat map ...

For a more accurate view of land area look at the Gall-Peters projection, which preserves area while distorting shape. In the end, there’s not “right” map projection. Each comes with trade ...

I usually work on general relativity and cosmology. I have always loved geometrical things. As a kid I was fascinated by map projections. When I was 14, I made a painted globe of Mars based on a ...

Because the Earth is roughly spherical, every flat map distorts our planet one way or another. The most popular version is the Mercator projection, created by Flemish cartographer Gerardus ...