World Maps, Polar Regions & Celestial
We have many World Maps & Maps of Polar Regions within this section. The World Maps cover a very large range of time scales and are presented in a variety of styles, showing an evolution of techniques and approaches.
The earliest known map is Babylonian dated 1320BC. The Babylonions devised the 360 degrees and developed the earliest measuring instruments.
World Maps, Polar Regions & Celestial
The first known attempts to map the world took place in 25 B.C. when Alexandria in Egypt was the centre of the Hellenic world.
Many fine manuscript maps were produced during the middle ages. The Gough map was drawn by a monk in 1250 and then the Mappa Mundi produced in Hereford showing the biblical world.
The invention of the printing press revolutionised map making as multiple copies could be produced. During the 14th century man started to travel. Columbus discovered America and Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape. Magellan circumnavigated the world. In 1375 the Catalan Atlas appeared. It was based on the travels of Marco Polo and the knowledge of Spanish navigators. It was an 8 page map of the world and gave us out first view of Asia. From then on map making developed rapidly as more and more of the world became known.
Ptolomy
Ptolomy probably had the most important influence on cartography. Ptolomy figured out how to represent spherical proportions on his flat map. His meridians were straight, the North Pole in the centre, and he represented the parallels as arcs of circles. He was a Greek mathematician, astronomer and geographer in the first century AD. His atlas Geographia contained 26 regional maps and a world map. He divided the world into latitude and longitude but his World only included Europe, Africa and Asia and influenced mapmaking until the 14th century.
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