Claudius Ptolemy, World Map, 150 AD
In 150 AD, the Greek scholar Claudius Ptolemy wrote a textbook entitled the Geography, which
earned him the title ‘The Father of Geography’. Drawing on nearly a
thousand years of classical learning, Ptolemy’s book provided a list of
over 8,000 locations known to Greco-Roman civilization, centered on the
Mediterranean. Ptolemy’s world stretches from the Canary Islands in the
west to Korea in the east. Iceland is the northernmost point, there is
no Pacific or American landmass, and South Africa is joined to Asia.
Ptolemy’s book also provided a written description of how to draw world
maps, using a grid of intersecting lines known as a graticule. He also
invented two map projections. Ironically, no maps drawn by Ptolemy have
ever been found; the first ones appeared in Byzantium over a thousand
years after his death.
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