About World Globes

In using a flat surface map of the earth  for research, we must remember it limits our perspective of the true view of how the earth looks as to where we are going or what we are doing.

Do we have the tendency to get out our atlas, get on the internet, or do we get the world globe out that should be in our home? Maybe we should do all three.    Acccording to F. WEBSTER McBRYDE, Department of Geography at Ohio State University, if we limit ourselves to just the flat surface map, atlas or internet, we do not get an accurate perspective of the world.

In his article “A MAP OF THE WORLD IN PERSPECTIVE1“

“In representing the earth’s spherical surface upon a plane, any map projection must inevitably involve some distortion, which increases with the size of the area included. A world projection, developing the grid of the entire earth, therefore, presents maximum difficulty in overcoming distortions. The principal properties which may be preserved on the map, as they are on the earth, may be listed as follows: (1) equivalence, or true relative sizes of areas; (2) conformality or true angles formed by intersecting lines (compass directions, if grid lines are straight, as on the Mercator projection); (3) true shapes of areas; (4) equidistance, or true scale, along certain lines; (5) continuity of surface, with the grid unbroken. Preservation of all of these at once is possible only on the globe.  On a flat surface one or several of the properties may be kept, but there is always a sacrifice.”

{1}The figurative rather than literal interpretation of this word is intended, for obviously the entire earth surface cannot be shown in true perspective. The orthographic hemispherical projection is the only true perspective representation.

Therefore can we say we don’t need a globe in our home for study or the world globe is ”no longer needed in the classroom”?