Why Did Mercator Make His Map?

In 1569, Mercator published his epic world map. This map, with its Mercator projection, was designed to help sailors navigate around the globe. They could use latitude and longitude lines to plot a straight route. ... Geradus Mercator's world maps flattened the spherical planet to make it easier to display.

What is the point of a Mercator map?

Description. Mercator is a conformal cylindrical map projection that was originally created to display accurate compass bearings for sea travel. An additional feature of this projection is that all local shapes are accurate and correctly defined at infinitesimal scale.

Why was Mercator chosen?

The Mercator projection was designed for use in marine navigation because of its unique property of representing any course of constant bearing as a straight segment.

Maya Lin-Takahashi

Maya Lin-Takahashi

Consumer Tech & Gadget Reviewer

Maya is a hardware enthusiast who tests and reviews smart home devices, smartphones, wearables, and audio gear. She focuses on practical consumer value and build quality.