| Revision as of 13:13, 14 March 2007 edit172.209.145.34 (talk)No edit summary← Previous edit | Revision as of 19:04, 5 July 2007 edit undo70.82.176.214 (talk) I have added a quote from geographer Denis Cosgrove that criticizes ths projection in that he relates its adoption with US imperialism.Next edit → | ||
| Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
| The '''van der Grinten projection''' is neither ] nor ]. It fits the entire Earth into a circular shape, though the polar regions are subject to extreme distortion. The projection was proposed by Alphons J. van der Grinten in 1904, and, unlike most projections, is an arbitrary geometric construction on the plane. It was made famous when the ] adopted it as their reference map of the world from 1922 until 1988. | The '''van der Grinten projection''' is neither ] nor ]. It fits the entire Earth into a circular shape, though the polar regions are subject to extreme distortion. The projection was proposed by Alphons J. van der Grinten in 1904, and, unlike most projections, is an arbitrary geometric construction on the plane. It was made famous when the ] adopted it as their reference map of the world from 1922 until 1988. | ||
| == Eurocentricity and American Hegemony == | |||
| According to ], the choice of the Van der Grinten projection as the reference map for the ] is indicative of the rising sense of US imperialist mission in the post-World War II context. Much like the ] has been criticized on the grounds that it significantly distorted geographical facts, downsizing Africa and India and overblowing Greenland, the Van der Grinten is also a "projection that greatly exaggerates the temperate regions while diminishing the tropical and equatorial latitudes of the globe".<sup>Cosgrove, Denis (2001). "Appolo's Eye - A Cartographic Genealogy of the Earth in the Western Imagination", (Baltimore and London: John Hopkins Press): p. 252.</sup> | |||
| This might have helped in constructing an Americano-centric geographical imagination within the United States while perpetuating the orientalist discrouse inherent to the 'Western' sense of imperium. | |||
| ] | ] | ||
Revision as of 19:04, 5 July 2007
The van der Grinten projection is neither equal-area nor conformal. It fits the entire Earth into a circular shape, though the polar regions are subject to extreme distortion. The projection was proposed by Alphons J. van der Grinten in 1904, and, unlike most projections, is an arbitrary geometric construction on the plane. It was made famous when the National Geographic Society adopted it as their reference map of the world from 1922 until 1988.
Eurocentricity and American Hegemony
According to Denis Cosgrove, the choice of the Van der Grinten projection as the reference map for the National Geographic Society is indicative of the rising sense of US imperialist mission in the post-World War II context. Much like the Mercator Projection has been criticized on the grounds that it significantly distorted geographical facts, downsizing Africa and India and overblowing Greenland, the Van der Grinten is also a "projection that greatly exaggerates the temperate regions while diminishing the tropical and equatorial latitudes of the globe".
This might have helped in constructing an Americano-centric geographical imagination within the United States while perpetuating the orientalist discrouse inherent to the 'Western' sense of imperium.
 | This cartography or mapping term article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |