40 Maps That Will Help You Make Sense of the World

[Saravanan A]

http://www.whydontyoutrythis.com/2014/01/40-maps-that-will-help-you-make-sense-of-the-world.html

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Saravanan. A,

Research Scholar,

Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law,

IIT Kharagpur. 

Mobile: +919932059007

P Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to.

[Shashikala Gurpur]

Good, my question is: if the earth is round, how or who decided which is north and which is south: why can't we show Africa in north and Europe in south

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[Saravanan A]

Dear Madam,

Thanks for the million dollar question. It made me to rethink the world map. 

The notion that north should always be up and east at the right was established by the Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy (90-168 AD). "Perhaps this was because the better-known places in his world were in the northern hemisphere (U.S & Euro Centric), and on a flat map these were most convenient for study if they were in the upper right-hand corner," historian Daniel Boorstin opines. Cartographers haven't always followed Ptolemy; during the Middle Ages, Boorstin notes, maps often had east on top — whence the expression "to orient." But north prevailed over the long haul. By the time Southern Hemispheroids had become numerically significant enough to bitch, the north-side-up convention was too well established to change. 

Most modern-day maps typically show an orientation with north at the top of the two-dimentional depiction. In other eras, different directions at the top were more prevalent, and all directions have been used by different societies and cultures to depict our world. The biggest factors that contribute to north being commonly placed at the top of a map include the invention of the compass and the understanding of magnetic north and the egocentricity of society, mainly in Europe.

Since Europe was a powerhouse in the world, producing both heavy exploration and the printing press – it was instinctual for European mapmakers to put Europe (and the Northern Hemisphere) as the focus at the top of maps. Today Europe and North America remain dominant cultural and economic forces, producing and influencing many maps – showing the Northern Hemisphere at the top of the map.

Many cartographers show what they want to be the focus at the top of the map, and therefore, influence the orientation of the map. Many early Arab and Egyptian cartographers placed south at the top of the map because, having most of the world they knew of to the north of them, it drew the most attention to their area. Many early settlers of North America created maps with a west-east orientation that resulted from the direction that they primarily traveled and explored. Their own viewpoint greatly altered the orientation of their maps.

In the history of mapmaking, the general rule of thumb is whoever made the map is probably at the center or the top of it. This rings mostly true for centuries of mapmaking, but has been greatly influenced as well with European cartographers’ discovery of compasses and the magnetic north.

Pls refer: 

• http://geography.about.com/od/understandmaps/a/North-At-The-Top-Of-The-Map.htm
  
• http://www.icsm.gov.au/mapping/map_projections.html
  
• http://geography.about.com/od/physicalgeography/a/geodesyearthsize.htm
  

- Thanks and Regards,

Saravanan. A