Gerardus Mercator

See also: Mercator

Gerardus Mercator , often called Gerard Mercator in French, of his true name Gerard de Cremere or Kremer , (March 5th 1512 with Rupelmonde - December 2nd 1594 with Duisbourg), is a Mathématicien and Flemish Géographe .

Its life and its work

Mercator is at the origin of the first projection of the sphere for the navigators which revolutionized the cartography. Mathematician and geographer of German ascent, Mercator makes its studies with the the University of Louvain in 1530 under the direction of the astronomer Frisius who initiates it with the construction and representation of the sphere. In 1538, it makes appear its first chart of the world after that of the Holy Land, left the previous year. Starting from 1552, it accepts the pulpit of Cosmographie at the university of Duisburg and works with the development of a projection of the Earth which leads it to publish in 1569, the 18 sheets of “the projection of Mercator” which finally provides to the navigators a real description of contours of the grounds. The originality of Mercator rests on the projection of terrestrial surface on a tangent cylinder at the equator what has the advantage of not deforming the angles. One also speaks about tangent cylindrical representation, where the meridian lines are spaced regularly while the distance between the parallels increases with the latitude. What exaggerates much surfaces as one moves away from the equator.

At the end of the 16th century, the geography of the world is finally expressed in its true form and its proportions. With printing works, Europe becomes and a diffusion information center of reliable geographical maps, using rational criteria.

Mercator knew at the time of its life of démélés with the ecclesiastical authorities, which suspected it of heresy. Thus in 1533, it had to leave Leuwen to avoid an investigation into its personal beliefs and ten years later, it was stopped for heresy in Antwerp, but succeeds in drawing from this bad step.

Mercator is buried with Duisbourg, where he lived since 1552 and where its works are exposed.

Descent

Publications

  • Atlas sive cosmographicae meditationes of Fabrica Mundi and Fabricati Figura Primum has Gerardo Mercatore inchoatae deinde has Iudoco Hondio Piae memoriae AD finem perductae, Iam vero multis in locis emendatae and of novo in lucem editae , Henricus Hondius, Amsterdam, 1630; Johann Cloppenburg, Amsterdam, 1632.

Charts of Mercator

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