Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 4
Maps That Lie Flat Lie!
In This Chapter
Stretching the truth
Understanding how maps are dishonest
Weighing the pluses and minuses of globes and flat maps
Analyzing different maps
Looking out for
really
bad maps
I magine a million-dollar map contest. The only thing you have to do to win is to supply an exact map
of the entire Earth that's flat. Here's how to enter!
1. Get your hands on a globe.
2. Peel off the map of the world in such a way that you end up with one big piece of map peel. (You
may want to use somebody else's globe because this procedure results in the globe's complete ruin.)
3. Lay the map peel on a flat surface so that the two surfaces are completely in contact but without
distorting the original map in any way. You can cut the map if you want, but pulling and stretching
it is prohibited.
You are absolutely right if you think it's going to be tough to submit a winning entry. Actually, it's
impossible. You can't take a spherical surface, such as Earth, and lay it down flat without distorting the
original image. This fact, however, hasn't deterred people from making flat maps of the world or parts
thereof. And, to do that, the mapmaker has to figuratively
pull it here
and
stretch it there.
The result is
a map that's full of distortion. Full of distortion? Well, simply put: Maps that lie flat lie!
Maps of the world are among the most basic aids to geographic learning. Many people take it for gran-
ted that they are truthful. But in reality, all flat maps of the world lie — they simply cannot help it.
As a novice geographer, it is important that you appreciate that simple fact and understand the ways in
which maps distort their portraits of your Earthly home. This chapter shows just how flat maps lie.
