Why every world map is wrong - Kayla Wolf

Translator: prudence lam Reviewer: Chak Lam Wan

Fourteen Greenlands could fit in Africa,

非洲可以容納 14 個格陵蘭

but you wouldn’t guess it from most maps of the world.

但係你從大部份世界地圖之中都見唔到係噉

The fact is, every world map humans have ever made is wrong.

其實所有由人整嘅世界地圖都係錯嘅

Actually, it’s impossible to make a map of the world 100% right.

根本就冇可能整個 100% 啱嘅世界地圖

No, not you, globe— we know you’re accurate.

喂，唔係你啊，地球儀— — 我哋都知你啱㗎

Not you, Google Earth, you’re just a digital globe.

都唔係你呀，Google 地球 你頂盡咪又係一個數碼化嘅地球儀

We're talking about flat maps, which, let's face it,

我講緊嘅係平面地圖呀

are way more convenient for a lot of things.

唔到我哋唔認 佢有時真係比好多嘢更加方便

Anyway, as we were saying,

總言之，我係話

it’s impossible to make a 100% accurate flat map of a spherical planet.

真係冇可能將一個立體嘅球體 印落一張完全平面嘅地圖

For a long time, people didn't even try.

喺好耐好耐以前，人類根本連試都冇試

They just plonked places down in arbitrary locations without any consistent scale.

佢哋只係隨意記低位置 冇任何統一嘅比例

Then in 150 AD, the Greek mathematician and astronomer Ptolemy

去到公元 150 年 希臘嘅數學同天文學家托勒密

systematically mapped the Earth on a grid

有系統噉將地球用網格標示出嚟

and placed locations on the grid according to coordinates,

同埋按座標將地方攞喺網格度

so maps could be checked against others and replicated.

令到地圖可以互相比較同複製

Ptolemy built his grid out of lines we still use today:

托勒密所製網格用到嘅線條 係我哋直至今日到沿用緊：

180 lines of latitude and 360 lines of longitude.

180 條緯度線同埋 360 條經度線

In spite of these advances, people kept getting lost.

就算有呢啲進步都好 人類都係繼續蕩失路

Part of the problem was a— shall we say—

其中一部份原因— — 應該點講好呢——

incomplete understanding of the world’s geography.

就係我哋唔太理解世界嘅地理

But it was also just really difficult to navigate using a map.

但其實用地圖嚟搵路都真係好難

Because the Earth is round,

因為地球係圓嘅

the shortest route from one place to another is a path along a circle.

由一個地方去另一個地方最短嘅路線 就係喺球體上面畫嘅一條線

If we draw this route on a flat map,

如果我哋將呢條路線畫喺平面嘅地圖

it passes through every line of longitude at a different angle.

佢就會用唔同嘅角度經過每一條經度

To follow the route, you’d have to constantly shift

要跟住呢條路線

the direction you're traveling.

你就要不停噉改變你行路嘅方向

Any slight error would land you in the wrong place.

小小嘅行差踏錯都會令到你去唔到目的地

In 1569, Gerardus Mercator fixed this problem.

喺 1569 年 杰拉杜斯·麥卡托就解決咗呢個問題

He created a world map proportioned

佢整咗一個合乎比例嘅世界地圖

so these curved navigational routes would be straight,

令呢啲彎曲嘅導航路線變成直線

passing through every line of longitude at the same angle

經過每一條經度線嘅時候 都維持同一個角度

and therefore allowing navigators to set a constant bearing—

等用導航嘅人可以設定一個固定嘅方位

in other words, travel in one direction— for a whole journey.

換言之，可以全程都跟住一個方向旅行

There was just one tiny hitch:

不過就有個小問題喇

to do this, he had to distort land masses and bodies of water

如果要噉做 佢就要扭曲晒大陸板塊同埋海洋嘅形狀

so those furthest from the equator got larger

令到離赤道遠啲嗰啲呢就會大啲

and those closest to the equator shrank.

離赤道近嗰啲呢就細啲

In spite of its inaccuracies, Mercator’s map was very useful.

撇除佢唔準確，麥卡托嘅地圖都幾實用

In fact, it’s still widely used today, including in online maps.

其實佢到而家都被廣泛採用 包括一啲網上地圖

But it’s still wrong!

不過依然係錯㗎！

In 1925, the Goode Homolosine Projection was created as— get this—

喺 1925 年，古蒂等發明面積投影—— 即係——

an interrupted pseudo-cylindrical equal area projection.

一個唔連續嘅偽圓柱體面積投影

What does that mean? Not important.

即係點解？ 唔重要

The point was to minimize distortion for the entire world.

重點係盡量唔扭曲成個地球個樣

The map can be land-oriented... or ocean-oriented.

嗰張地圖可以係以陸地為中心…… 或者以海洋為中心

Either way, the so-called orange peel map isn’t very easy to read.

咩方式都好 呢一個好似橙皮噉樣嘅地圖都唔係太易睇

The Dymaxion Projection by American architect Buckminster Fuller

喺 40 年代，由美國建築師巴克敏斯特·富勒

in the 1940s is even better.

發明嘅戴美克森氏地圖投影就好啲喇

Sorry, did we say better?

等陣先，係「好啲」咩？

It’s not better if you want to understand where things are in the world.

對於想知啲地方喺世界嘅邊一個位置呢 就唔係太好喇

It is better in the sense that there are no visibly evident distortions

好啲係指呢一個方法冇對陸地

of the land masses.

造成明顯嘅扭曲

Though if you wanted to know, say, how far Brazil is from Nigeria,

假如你想知道巴西離尼日利亞幾遠

you won’t get any sense of that from this map.

你唔會從呢款地圖得知

The most accurate projection to date is the AuthaGraph World Map

到目前為止，最準確嘅投影係

designed by Japanese architect Hajime Narukawa in 1999.

由日本建築師鳴川肇 喺 1999 年設計嘅 AuthaGraph 世界地圖

The continents and oceans are almost completely in proportion,

當中嘅洲同海洋幾乎全部都按比例

and the map is rectangular, just how we like it.

而幅地圖都係呈長方形嘅 就好似而家我哋一般見到噉樣

Could this be the perfect map?

噉佢有冇可能成為一幅完美嘅地圖呢？

Well... no.

都係……唔得呀

Since the Mercator works for navigation and reads clearly,

既然麥卡托個嗰方法都搞得掂導航 又睇得清楚

why bother with all these whacky maps?

點解仲要理呢堆奇形怪狀嘅地圖呢？

Arno Peters argued that by enlarging European and North American countries,

亞諾彼特斯就認為 麥卡托投影放大咗歐洲同北美國家

the Mercator projection gives white nations a sense of supremacy

令白人國家相比喺赤道附近嘅非白人國家

over non-white nations closer to the equator.

產生一份優越感

He adapted the Gall-Peters Projection, which counteracts that particular problem,

為咗去對抗呢一個問題 佢採用咗高爾彼特斯投影法

but the continents are still... stretched.

但陸地都係拉長咗

Today, we rely on maps less and less for navigation,

宜家，我哋越嚟越少依賴地圖嚟導航

but they still play a vital role in education.

但係佢哋仍然對教育嚟講好重要

Peters was definitely on to something:

彼特斯有樣嘢講得好啱︰

no matter what map we’re looking at,

無論我哋睇緊咩地圖都好

it’s a story told from the perspective of the map’s creator

佢都係反映緊 各位地圖製作者睇嘢嘅角度

that in turn shapes—perhaps unduly— our perception of our world.

亦塑造我哋對呢個世界嘅認識

Simple changes in map design,

一啲簡單嘅地圖設計改動

even changes that have nothing to do with how we transfer

就算唔關點樣將球體嘅地球 攞落平面地圖都好

a round Earth to a flat surface, can completely shift our point of view.

都足以完全噉改變我哋嘅觀感