Chapter 2 Summary and Analysis

Maps are important tools in helping people understand their world. A globe is the best map of all because it reminds us of the limits to our living space, with 70 percent of the Earth's surface covered by water and ice. A globe also shows us that most habitable regions on Earth are above the equator, which may help explain why the northern hemisphere countries dominate world affairs. Cartography, the art of drawing maps, has greatly evolved since the Mesopotamians began scratching maps in clay thousands of years ago. During the great age of discovery (which is actually still going on today), explorers and others brought back vital information that enabled mapmakers to improve the accuracy of maps. Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe and Mercator's formulation of a grid to allow navigators to plot a straight line compass bearing contributed significantly to...