Gerardus mercator facts for kids
Facts for kids george washington!
Gerardus Mercator
If you have ever seen a map of the world in a classroom or in an atlas, chances are you have seen the work of Gerardus Mercator, a 16th-century Flemish cartographer (mapmaker).
His most famous work, the Mercator projection, is a geographical chart where the spherical globe is flattened into a two-dimensional map, with latitude and longitude lines drawn in a straight grid.
Gerardus mercator facts for kids
Mercator’s view of the world is one that has endured through the centuries and still helps navigators today.
Mercator was born in Flanders (located in modern-day Belgium) in 1512. The son of a cobbler, Mercator grew up in a poor family.
He graduated from the University of Louvain in 1532, where he studied mathematics, geography, and astronomy. After graduating, Mercator developed his skills as an engraver, calligrapher, and geographer, and then began making globes and scientific instruments.
As his reputation grew, Mercator published several maps of places around the world. These included an ear