matthen

Projecting the world onto a flat map is an interesting mathematical problem. Different maps preserve different properties, for example the Mercator map preserves angles (the map on the right). Some maps preserve areas, the Mercator doesn’t do this- look at the size of Greenland. The Gnomonic projection, on the left, is interesting because straight lines on this map correspond to great circles. Great circles are the paths that aeroplanes fly in, the shortest distance between two points on a sphere. Animated is a flight from Edinburgh to Guadalajara. [my code] [more]