An atlas is a collection of maps, traditionally bound into book form, but now found in multimedia formats. As well as geographic features and political boundaries, many often feature geopolitical, social, religious and economic statistics. The first book that could be called an atlas was constructed from the calculations of Claudius Ptolemy, a Greek geographer working in Alexandria circa A.D. 150. The first edition was published in Bologna in 1477 and was illustrated with a set of 27 maps, though scholars say that it is not known whether the printed maps were engraved versions of original maps made by Ptolemy, or whether they were constructed by medieval Greek scholars from Ptolemy's text. The origin of the term atlas is a common source of misconception, perhaps because two different mythical figures named 'Atlas' are associated with mapmaking. King Atlas, a mythical King of Mauretania, was, according to legend, a wise philosopher, mathematician and astronomer who supposedly made the first celestial globe. However, the more widely known Atlas is a figure from Greek mythology. A map projection is any method used in cartography to represent the two-dimensional curved surface of the earth or other body on a plane. The term "projection" here refers to any function defined on the earth's surface and with values on the plane, and not necessarily a geometric projection. Flat maps could not exist without map projections, because a sphere cannot be laid flat over a plane without distortions. One can see this mathematically as a consequence of Gauss's Theorema Egregium. Flat maps can be more useful than globes in many situations: they are more compact and easier to store; they readily accommodate an enormous range of scales; they are viewed easily on computer displays; they can facilitate measuring properties of the terrain being mapped; they can show larger portions of the earth's surface at once; and they are cheaper to produce and transport. These useful traits of flat maps motivate the development of map projections. Shen Kuo or Shen Kua (1031–1095) was a polymath Chinese scientist and statesman of the Song Dynasty. He excelled in many fields of study and statecraft, imcluding; mathematician, astronomer, geologist, zoologist, encyclopedist, poet and diplomat, among many others. In his Dream Pool Essays of 1088, Shen was the first to describe the magnetic needle compass, which would be used for navigation. Kuo also discovered the concept of true north in terms of magnetic declination towards the north pole. Alongside his colleague Wei Pu, Shen accurately mapped the orbital paths of the moon and the planets, in an intensive five-year project that rivaled the later work of the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. To aid his work in astronomy, Shen Kuo made improved designs of the armillary sphere, gnomon, sighting tube, and invented a new type of inflow clepsydra clock. | 
| WikiProject: Geography Here are some Geography related tasks you can do: - Requested Articles: Geographical feature, Glossary of geography terms, Demographics of Oceania, Regions of North America, Regions of South America, Regions of Oceania (See Regions of Africa as example) More...
- Wikify/Cleanup: Geography, Philosophy of Geography, History of geography, Holarctic, Geostatistics, Kriging, Geographic Information Systems, Urbanism, Wikipedia:Requested pictures/Places, List of map-changing events by date, Valley More...
- Expand: Cycle of erosion, Outer Continental Shelf More...
- Improve to GA: See Category:B-Class geography articles More...
- Improve to FA: Anahim hotspot, Erg (landform), Great Barrier Reef, Geyser, History of Earth, Mount Garibaldi, Palm Island, Queensland, Topic outline of geography More...
- Projects: Lists of basic country topics (one for each country), List of geography topics (See List of psychology topics as an example), List of geographers
| |
