New map projections don’t make the Mercator wrong
The transverse Mercator projection was created for European sailors – and it worked for their world, writes Paul Harwood
TL;DR
- The Mercator projection was created for European sailors and was useful for their needs.
- The continued use of Mercator is due to societal inertia, not inherent bias.
- The Equal Earth projection is a better representation for current map usage.
- The international coordinate system's prime meridian through Greenwich is historical, and its center is not London but off the coast of West Africa.
- Modern systems like UTM use 60 zones with different centers, and the UK's Ordnance Survey mapping is centered in Lancashire, not London.