Gerardus Mercator
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Gerardus Mercator (March 5, 1512 - December 2, 1594) wasfamous Flemish cartographer, remembered forMercator projection named after him.
Born Gerard de Cremere (or Kremer)Rupelmonde. "Mercator" isLatinized formhis name. It means "seller" or "marketer". Educated's-HertogenboschatUniversityLouvain. He travelled extensively, which provokedkeen interestgeography. He returnedLouvainworkedGemma FrisiusGaspar Myrica. They worked together from 15351536constructterrestrial globe. Later, Mercator producedmapPalestine (1537), another map ofworld (1538) andmapFlanders (1540).
Mercator was chargedheresy1544spent seven monthsprison. In 1552, he movedDuisburg where he openedcartographic workshop. He completedsix-panel mapEurope (1554)he taught mathematics. He produced more mapshe was appointed Court CosmographerDuke WilhelmCleve1564. He devisednew projectionfirst usedin 1569,had parallel lineslongitudeaid navigation by sea, as compass courses could be marked as straight lines. He tookword atlasdescribecollectionmaps,encouraged Abraham Orteliuscompilefirst modern world atlas, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum1570. He produced his own atlas innumberparts,firstwhich was published1578consistedcorrected versions ofmapsPtolemy (though introducingnumbernew errors). MapsFrance, Germany andNetherlands were added1585ofBalkansGreece1588, further incomplete maps were published1594 after his death.
The MercatormuseumSint-Niklaas, Belgium features exhibits about Mercator's lifework.
Bibliography
- Mercator: The Man Who MappedPlanet by Nicholas Crane, ISBN 0805066241, Henry Holt & Company, Inc.; July 2002
- Atlas sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura (Atlas, or Cosmographical Meditations onFrame forWorldits Form) by Gerardus Mercator, Duisburg, 1595; Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, LibraryCongress. ISBN 1-8917-8826-4
