Why all world maps are wrong
22,118,365
Published 2016-12-02
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Maps are flat representations of our spherical planet. Johnny Harris cut open a plastic globe to understand just what it takes to turn a sphere into something flat.
His struggle to make a flat map out of the plastic globe is indicative of a challenge mapmakers have faced for centuries: It is mathematically impossible to translate the surface of a sphere onto a plane without some form of distortion.
To solve this problem, mathematicians and cartographers have developed a huge library of representations of the globe, each distorting a certain attribute and preserving others.
For instance, the Mercator projection preserves the shape of countries while distorting the size, especially near the north and south pole.
For a more accurate view of land area look at the Gall-Peters projection, which preserves area while distorting shape.
In the end, there's not "right" map projection. Each comes with trade-offs, and cartographers make projection decisions based on the particular tasks at hand. But if you are interested in seeing an accurate depiction of the planet, it's best to stick with a globe.
Interact with projections: metrocosm.com/compare-map-projections.html
Mercator tool: thetruesize.com/
Mike Bostock Map Transitions: bl.ocks.org/mbostock/3711652
Mercator Puzzle: hive.sewanee.edu/ldale/maps/10/06-LOCAL.html
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All Comments (21)
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After tearing apart a globe, Johnny Harris got a chance to travel to its most unique borders for our ambitious, international travel series – Vox Borders. Watch the full series now on YouTube: bit.ly/2QBGvwR
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Ohh then flat earthers are actually frustrated map makers
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at this point i don't even know if i walk in a straight line or not
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RIP the inflatable globe that was absolutely demolished in the opening demo Let us honor his sacrifice.
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There was actually an award-winning computer program that managed to put together the world’s most accurate map. It portrays the poles as two points diagonal to each other on a plane, and wraps the hemispheres around them. It’s near impossible to use for navigation, and seems to make it hard to follow the objective location of countries, and somewhat bends the shape of land bodies, but it is the best map in existence at preserving the size and shape of countries all around.
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Am i the only who hasnt seen a single flat earther comment but only anti flat earth comments
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The Mercator is why Americans think Africa is a country
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Me : *already know this* Also me : *has 5 tasks to finish and still watches it*
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1:33 looks like hundreds of pictures of cows 😂
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map
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When you don’t know the name of a inventor you say: This guy
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Rules of maps 1. No map is wrong 2. No map is right 3. All map is map
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I remember when I used to see the atlas in my childhood I used to wonder how India is bigger than Greenland in area if it looks half its size on the world map, but now I know
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Wonder what map Dora used
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1:21 IS IT JUST ME OR THERE SEEM TO BE ALOT OF FACES
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Short answer: You cannot depict a spheric surface in a plane without distortion. That would be like the squaring the circle.
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Somewhere in the four-dimension world, a planet is being converted from a hypersphere to a spherical map.
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Actually, The earth is one giant toyota corolla.
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Channels like Vox are one of the main reasons why YouTube is my favourite place on internet. Lots of educational infos which we can learn and enjoy with ease and fun Thanks ❤️♥️
