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In 2014 cartographer Tom Patterson<\/a> and his colleagues, Bojan \u0160avri\u010d<\/a> and Bernhard Jenny<\/a>, introduced the eponymous Patterson projection<\/a>, a cylindrical projection that reduced polar exaggeration while maintaining the familiar shape of continents.<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Patterson, who recently retired from the U.S. National Park Service<\/a>, has teamed up with \u0160avri\u010d and Jenny to produce a new projection: the Equal Earth projection<\/a>.<\/p>\n This projection can be seen as the cartographer’s response to the Peters map: in fact, the team created it in reaction to the furor over the Gall-Peters projection<\/a> being adopted by Boston public schools<\/a>. “Our message\u2014that Gall-Peters is not the only equal-area projection\u2014was not getting through,” the authors wrote in the International Journal of Geographical Information Science<\/em><\/a> (mirrored here<\/a>). “We searched for alternative equal-area map projections for world maps, but could not find any that met all our aesthetic criteria.” Citing their own research into map readers’ projection preferences<\/a>, they decided against projections like the Eckert IV<\/a>, Mollweide<\/a> and\u00a0sinusoidal<\/a> and opted to make their own: “a new projection that would have more \u2018eye appeal\u2019 compared to existing equal-area projections and to give it the catchy name Equal Earth.”<\/p>\n The end result is a Robinson<\/a>-like pseudocylindrical projection that nevertheless preserves area\u2014and, like the Robinson, is nicer to look at than a cylindrical equal-area projection like the Gall-Peters. It’s actually kind of impressive that they were able to square that particular circle. The article<\/a> details their decision-making process and the math behind the projection and is worth a read. It’ll be interesting to see whether this map gains any traction. I wish it well.<\/p>\n Previously: The Patterson Projection<\/a>; The Peters Projection Comes to Boston\u2019s Public Schools<\/a>; The Peters Map Is Fighting the Last War<\/a>; More on Boston Schools and the Peters Map<\/a>; The 74 on Boston Schools and the Peters Map<\/a>.<\/p>\n New (17 Aug):\u00a0Equal Earth Updates<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"