ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

Gerardus Mercator

Gerardus Mercator

If you have ever seen a map of the world in a classroom or in an atlas, chances are you have seen a version of a “Mercator projection.” You may not, however, be familiar with its creator, Gerardus Mercator.

Grades

5 - 8

Subjects

Geography, Physical Geography, Social Studies, World History

Image

Mercator World Map

Geradus Mercator's world maps flattened the spherical planet to make it easier to display. Displays of the landmasses are not necessarily proportional to their actual size, especially toward the poles.

Image by Mary Evans/Science Source
Geradus Mercator's world maps flattened the spherical planet to make it easier to display. Displays of the landmasses are not necessarily proportional to their actual size, especially toward the poles.

If you have ever seen a map of the world in a classroom or in an atlas, chances are you have seen the work of Gerardus Mercator, a 16th-century Flemish cartographer (mapmaker). His most famous work, the Mercator projection, is a geographical chart where the spherical globe is flattened into a two-dimensional map, with latitude and longitude lines drawn in a straight grid. Mercator’s view of the world is one that has endured through the centuries and still helps navigators today.

Mercator was born in Flanders (located in modern-day Belgium) in 1512. The son of a cobbler, Mercator grew up in a poor family. He graduated from the University of Louvain in 1532, where he studied mathematics, geography, and astronomy. After graduating, Mercator developed his skills as an engraver, calligrapher, and geographer, and then began making globes and scientific instruments. As his reputation grew, Mercator published several maps of places around the world. These included an early version of his world map, which showed the globe as a heart-shaped projection.

He continued studying the sciences and making maps and instruments for wealthy, and sometimes high-profile, clients. But in 1544, Mercator was arrested under suspicion of heresy; the traveling he did for research had made church officials wary. After spending a few months in prison, he was released and continued his studies.

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. Mercator’s projection laid out the globe as a flattened version of a cylinder. All the latitude and longitude lines intersected at 90-degree angles. Because the projection was intended to be a reference for navigation and not land geography, the landmasses on the map are not necessarily proportional to their actual size; at higher latitudes, landmasses appear larger than their actual size. Despite these distortions, Mercator’s projection is still heavily used today.

In addition to publishing his famous projection, Mercator was the pioneer of another geographical tool we use to this day. He coined the term “atlas” (named after the Greek mythological figure who held the world on his shoulders) to describe a collection of maps. Mercator continued his cartography work for the rest of his life, publishing parts of his atlas until his death in 1594.

Media Credits

The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited.

Director
Tyson Brown, National Geographic Society
Author
National Geographic Society
Production Managers
Gina Borgia, National Geographic Society
Jeanna Sullivan, National Geographic Society
Program Specialists
Sarah Appleton, National Geographic Society, National Geographic Society
Margot Willis, National Geographic Society
Producer
Clint Parks
Intern
Roza Kavak
other
Last Updated

October 19, 2023

For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher. They will best know the preferred format. When you reach out to them, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource.

Media

If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media.

Text

Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service.

Interactives

Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives.

Related Resources