Previously, Goldberg and I identified six critical error types a flat map can have: local shapes, areas, distances, flexion (bending), skewness (lopsidedness) and boundary cuts. But flat maps are easy to store and manufacture and are therefore desirable. Depicting the curved surface of the Earth on a flat map has been the cartographers’ problem for centuries. I and my colleagues Dave Goldberg and Bob Vanderbei (who invented the “ Purple America” map for showing election results) have produced what we believe to be the most accurate flat map of the Earth ever made. Since becoming an emeritus professor at Princeton, I have fondly returned to some of my childhood interests. When I was 14, I made a painted globe of Mars based on a flat Mercator Mars map by the astronomer E. As a kid I was fascinated by map projections. Just zoom all the way out at □□ usually work on general relativity and cosmology. With 3D Globe Mode on Google Maps desktop, Greenland's projection is no longer the size of Africa. This change should be rolled out to all Google Maps users now. On the desktop, though, this new change works on modern browsers including Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, and it’s all powered by WebGL as VentureBeat points out. Thanks to the new globe depiction, there’s a far more accurate representation here.įor now, this change only applies on the desktop, as mobile apps don’t offer this just yet. On a flat map, the large island looks about the same size as the continent of Africa. One big example of this is that of Greenland. While many might chalk up this move to something against the “Flat Earther” movement, it’s also a move that gives users a more accurate representation of size on the planet. Google Maps is the most popular online navigation tool on the planet, but until recently, it only showed a flat depiction of the Earth when you zoomed out.
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