True Size Map

[hhfarang]

http://thetruesize.com/#?borders=1~!MTU ... 8MjI1%29Mg

[Pleng]

True size according to what??

[Frank Hovis]

It removes the Mercator projection distortion, which for example, makes Greenland appear huge but in fact you could fit three and a half Greenlands into Australia.

[Nereus]

It removes the Mercator projection distortion, which for example, makes Greenland appear huge but in fact you could fit three and a half Greenlands into Australia.

Along with all of Europe:

Australia size.jpg (46.73 KiB) Viewed 386 times

[Pleng]

I see. Interesting.

So, according to the reading I've just done on the subject, would I be right in deducing that this only occurs on flat maps? And that globes are more accurate?

[Frank Hovis]

Yes, because the diameter of a horizontal slice of the earth gets smaller towards the poles, a Mercator map 'stretches' things the further away from the equator you get but it's not a linear scale, at 60 degrees things are about double their size, at 90 degrees it's nearer 10 times their actual size.

That's one of the reasons the UK often appears to be quite a large country on a Mercator map; the top of Scotland is nearly 60 degrees North (I also think we used to just make the UK bigger on some maps too!). Thailand usually looks about the same 'height' as the UK but is really about twice as 'long'.

The problem is very obvious at the South Pole where Antarctica covers the entire bottom section of a Mercator map.

You can think about a Mercator as a cylinder rather than the flat map (if you join the E/W edges) then it become obvious that the top and bottom of the cylinder (the poles) have the same diameter as the equatorial parts, which we know isn't the case.

On a globe, there is no need for stretching although the earth isn't perfectly globe shaped, it's close enough.

[Henry 14th]

Actually really intresting that.

You seem very aware of this Frank, is that through work or by some sort of hobbies?

Sent from my SM-J500G using Tapatalk

[Frank Hovis]

Sort of a hobby, I like looking at old maps, they come in all shapes and sizes and it's interesting to see how different map-makers tried to find ways round the problem of accurately depicting a spheroid on a flat plane, especially once they proved there was land on the other side of the world (North & South America mostly) and then the difficulties in showing 'The Southern Continent or Terra Incognita / Terra Australis'' which they weren't sure was there at all for a while.

I find them very interesting for various reasons but the one thing that always amazes me is how little they knew back then and yet somehow they eventually mapped the world, from a vague idea that China must also lie to to the west of Europe and then finding the way blocked by two massive continents just five hundred years ago and now all we need to do is look at a four inch piece of plastic and we have the most accurate maps ever made in the palm of our hand.

What astonishing feats those old discoverers achieved, one can only imagine the feeling of actually finding a whole 'new world' and claiming it for King & Country. I still get a nice feeling when I'm the first person to walk over freshly fallen snow and leave the only footprints.

There are some well known maps at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_world_maps

For voyages of Discovery the Hakluyt society has some great compendiums of voyages from 1400's right up to quite recent times. http://www.hakluyt.com/ "Divers(e) Voyages" and "Principal Navigations" are all original documents/logs/letters relating to the discovery of the Americas. A good read if you have the time. (you can find them all on archive.org I think).

[GLCQuantum]

Our Frank said...

Sort of a hobby, I like looking at old maps,

In reference to the, "Boredom - How Do you Fight it?" thread... I sincerely hope that I don't get that bored.

Frank, you are a gentleman. You have given me hope.

[Nereus]

There was a recent documentary on True TV about the early map makers. I think the following was the one:

( Idid not try to embed it as it is a bit long)

One interesting point in it is about how the French were all bitter and twisted about why the prime meridian runs through Greenwich.
For some years they used Paris, and refused to use Greenwich.

[Frank Hovis]

Ah, you see young GLCQ, you're making the mistake that I enjoy it because otherwise I'd be bored. That is not the case; when I'm not poring over old maps I could be doing any number of other things, such as reading the latest amendments to the UK Highway Code or studying the movement of tectonic plates or the variable elasticity and fluidity of tarmacadam under different stresses. I also enjoy what little plane-spotting there is to be had here during the day and during the evenings I sometimes try to identify insects by their sound. On the rare days when it rains I spend a little time counting how may raindrops fall on a single floor tile before one rain drop hits an already wet spot on the tile; with that number I can accurately judge whether or not it's going to be a light shower or a downpour and can then determine whether I need to bring the flower heads I'm drying (for pressing into a horticultural collection) under cover or not.

Exciting? No, not in the same way that sharing a baby-oil filled jacuzzi with half a dozen super models is.

Boring? No, not in the same way as sharing a baby-oil filled jacuzzi with half a dozen super models, all day long, every single day, every year is.

Variety is the spice of life but I'll admit that I could probably cope with the jacuzzi thing a bit more often but, you know, pressed flowers don't press themselves.

[GLCQuantum]

Ah, you see young GLCQ, you're making the mistake that I enjoy it because otherwise I'd be bored. That is not the case; when I'm not poring over old maps I could be doing any number of other things, such as reading the latest amendments to the UK Highway Code or studying the movement of tectonic plates or the variable elasticity and fluidity of tarmacadam under different stresses. I also enjoy what little plane-spotting there is to be had here during the day and during the evenings I sometimes try to identify insects by their sound. On the rare days when it rains I spend a little time counting how may raindrops fall on a single floor tile before one rain drop hits an already wet spot on the tile; with that number I can accurately judge whether or not it's going to be a light shower or a downpour and can then determine whether I need to bring the flower heads I'm drying (for pressing into a horticultural collection) under cover or not.

Exciting? No, not in the same way that sharing a baby-oil filled jacuzzi with half a dozen super models is.

Boring? No, not in the same way as sharing a baby-oil filled jacuzzi with half a dozen super models, all day long, every single day, every year is.

Variety is the spice of life but I'll admit that I could probably cope with the jacuzzi thing a bit more often but, you know, pressed flowers don't press themselves.

No 'laughing emoticon' will do justice in conveying the facial expressions I had during reading your above post. You crack me up Frank. F u c k, do you crack me up (on this forum you can still just put spaces between letters to make a bad word ).

No emoticon is required.

[Frank Hovis]

@Nereus - Those programs look good - I like the political intrigue that went along with that period of discovery.

@GLCQ - One of my other occasional pastimes is, of course, writing ripostes to your posts - I'm glad you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.