Every map starts with the same lie: The earth is flat. The globe isn’t a portable, affordable, or even satisfying way to look at the world, so these exaggerations are necessary. However, mapmakers ...

How distorting are map projections? Here’s what four commonly used systems of projection do to a human head. From the 1921 publication Elements in Map Projection comes this striking demonstration of ...

The America you see above is a proud country. Its northwestern border is arched like a subtly confident grin. The scrawl from Minnesota to Maine looks like a doctor's confident signature. East and ...

CNN Election History presents historical election results on maps that represent the 48 contiguous states, Alaska, and Hawaii. CNN uses a Web Mercator map projection in the Election History ...

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our ...

For centuries, the Mercator projection has been one of the most recognizable representations of the world. Developed in 1569 during the height of maritime exploration, it was engineered with a ...

THE second edition of this useful book differs little from the first, which was published in 1914, but the author's identity is now revealed. Most books on map projection are either severely ...

There is an episode in The West Wing television series in which White House press spokesperson CJ Craig meets a delegation of cartographers, who explain that the standard world map — a Mercator ...

In classrooms, offices, and libraries across the United States, one world map appears again and again: the Mercator projection. Its familiarity makes it feel authoritative, even though it was never ...