{"id":1790751,"date":"2021-05-04T09:27:25","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T13:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1790751"},"modified":"2021-05-04T09:27:25","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T13:27:25","slug":"the-unicorn-of-map-projections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2021\/05\/the-unicorn-of-map-projections\/","title":{"rendered":"The Unicorn of Map Projections"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a shame that Sarah Battersby\u2019s essay in The International Journal of Cartography<\/em>, \u201cThe Unicorn of Map Projections<\/a>,\u201d is behind a paywall: it looks at the recent rash of map projections that purport to solve \u201c<\/i>all our mapping problems.\u201d There have been more than a few that have claimed the title of \u201cmost accurate map\u201d; Battersby refers to these projections as a class as unicorns. The most recent example of this I dismissed as the cartographic equivalent of a spherical cow<\/a>; five years ago there was also Narukawa\u2019s AuthaGraph map<\/a>; and of course there was the Peters map<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a shame that Sarah Battersby\u2019s essay in The International Journal of Cartography, \u201cThe Unicorn of Map Projections,\u201d is behind a paywall: it looks at the recent rash of map projections that purport to solve… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[571],"class_list":["post-1790751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-cartography","tag-map-projections","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1789121,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/08\/comparing-map-projections\/","url_meta":{"origin":1790751,"position":0},"title":"Comparing Map Projections","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"17 August 2020","format":"link","excerpt":"Kai\u2019s Comparing Map Projections mashes up two code blocks by Mike Bostock: Map Projections Distortions is a visualization of the types of distortion inherent to each projection; Projection Transitions morphs between projections. Combining the two is a neat trick. Refreshing to see the usual two combatants excluded. [Maps Mania]","rel":"","context":"In "Cartography"","block_context":{"text":"Cartography","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/cartography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Comparing Map Projections (screenshot)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/comparing-map-projections-1024x828.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/comparing-map-projections-1024x828.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/comparing-map-projections-1024x828.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/comparing-map-projections-1024x828.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1790076,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2021\/02\/map-projections-for-babies\/","url_meta":{"origin":1790751,"position":1},"title":"Map Projections for Babies","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"4 February 2021","format":"link","excerpt":"Late last year\u00a0Dan Ford launched a Kickstarter to create a board book (i.e., a children\u2019s book printed on paperboard) about map projections called Map Projections for Babies. Presumably intended to be in the same vein as other board books on surprisingly advanced science topics (Chris Ferrie has a whole series\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cartography"","block_context":{"text":"Cartography","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/cartography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Map Projections for Babies","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/map-projections-babies-300x228.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4145,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/04\/flex-projector\/","url_meta":{"origin":1790751,"position":2},"title":"Flex Projector","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"3 April 2017","format":"link","excerpt":"With all this recent talk about map projections,\u00a0it might be worth\u00a0pointing\u00a0out the existence of Flex Projector, a cross-platform Java application for creating map projections, now at version 1.0.6. Yes, creating: if you want to invent your own map projection and slap your own name on it, you can do that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cartography"","block_context":{"text":"Cartography","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/cartography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/flex-projector-300x244.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1791885,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2021\/10\/map-projection-playground\/","url_meta":{"origin":1790751,"position":3},"title":"Map Projection Playground","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"12 October 2021","format":"link","excerpt":"A lot of fun can be had at Florian Ledermann\u2019s Map Projection Playground, which loads up nearly a hundred map projections for you to manipulate: controls enable you to change the centre meridian and several other parameters. You can even overlay a simplified Tissot\u2019s indicatrix! [Maps Mania]","rel":"","context":"In "Cartography"","block_context":{"text":"Cartography","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/cartography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1787582,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/08\/a-map-projections-roundup\/","url_meta":{"origin":1790751,"position":4},"title":"A Map Projections Roundup","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"8 August 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"Three things make a roundup. Here we go: Here\u2019s a gallery of all 68 map projections supported in ArcGIS 10.7.1 and ArcGIS Pro 2.4, from Bojan \u0160avri\u010d and Melita Kennedy. Some interesting projections included here, some of which are only suitable for a specific region (such as the complex New\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cartography"","block_context":{"text":"Cartography","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/cartography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/chris-whong-mercator-peel-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/chris-whong-mercator-peel-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/chris-whong-mercator-peel-1024x768.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/chris-whong-mercator-peel-1024x768.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1805841,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2022\/01\/map-projection-explorer\/","url_meta":{"origin":1790751,"position":5},"title":"Map Projection Explorer","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"6 January 2022","format":"link","excerpt":"Stefan Reifenberg\u2019s Map Projection Explorer is another interactive tool that morphs a world map into the projection of your choice. The availability of data from the d3.js library seems to be enabling a lot of them. [r\/Maps] Previously: Map Projection Playground; Comparing Map Projections.","rel":"","context":"In "Cartography"","block_context":{"text":"Cartography","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/cartography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1790751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1790751"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1790751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1790754,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1790751\/revisions\/1790754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1790751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1790751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1790751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}