Why every world map is wrong - Kayla Wolf

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Amanda Zhu

Fourteen Greenlands could fit in Africa,

一個非洲可以塞進十四個格陵蘭島，

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

但從大部分的世界地圖 是猜不到這一點的。

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

事實是，人類做的 每一張世界地圖都是錯的。

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

其實，100% 正確的世界地圖 根本不可能做得出來。

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

不，地球儀，不是說你， 我們知道你很精確。

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

也不是你，Google 地球， 你只是數位版的地球儀。

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

我們談的是平面地圖，坦白說，

are way more convenient for a lot of things.

在許多方面它們都方便許多。

Anyway, as we were saying,

總之，剛才說到，要為球形的行星

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

繪製 100% 正確的平面地圖， 是不可能的任務。

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

過去有很長一段時間， 根本沒有人嘗試。

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

大家就只是把各個地點 隨意丟到各個位置，

沒有任何一定的比例。

Then in 150 AD, the Greek mathematician and astronomer Ptolemy

接著，西元前 150 年，

希臘數學家兼天文學家托勒密

systematically mapped the Earth on a grid

有系統地將地球地圖繪製在網格上，

and placed locations on the grid according to coordinates,

依照座標將各地點放在地圖上，

so maps could be checked against others and replicated.

這樣就可以和其他地圖做比對確認，

也能複製地圖。

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

我們現今都仍在使用托勒密的格線：

180 lines of latitude and 360 lines of longitude.

180 條緯線和 360 條經線.

In spite of these advances, people kept getting lost.

儘管有這些進展，

大家還是會迷路。

Part of the problem was a— shall we say—

部份的問題在於——怎麼說呢——

incomplete understanding of the world’s geography.

對世界的地理沒有完全的了解。

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

但要用地圖找到方向也確實很困難。

Because the Earth is round,

因為地球是圓的，

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

兩地之間的最短距離 是沿著圓形走的路徑。

If we draw this route on a flat map,

如果把這條路徑畫在平面地圖上，

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

它通過每一條經線的夾角都不同。

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

要沿著這條路徑走 就得經常變換行進方向，

the direction you're traveling.

Any slight error would land you in the wrong place.

任何小失誤都會 把你帶到不對的地方。

In 1569, Gerardus Mercator fixed this problem.

1569 年，傑拉杜斯麥卡托 解決了這個問題。

He created a world map proportioned

他繪製的世界地圖

so these curved navigational routes would be straight,

是依照比例讓這些行進的弧線 在地圖上變成直線，

passing through every line of longitude at the same angle

通過每條經線的角度都一樣。

and therefore allowing navigators to set a constant bearing—

讓導航員可以設定固定的方向——

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

換言之，整趟旅程只需要 朝一個方向行進即可。

There was just one tiny hitch:

只有一個小問題：

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

要做到這一點， 他必須扭曲陸塊和水體，

so those furthest from the equator got larger

所以距離赤道最遠的會變大，

and those closest to the equator shrank.

距離赤道最近的會縮小。

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

雖然麥卡托的地圖不正確， 但卻非常有用。

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

事實上，它至今仍被廣為使用， 連網路地圖都會採用。

But it’s still wrong!

但它仍然是錯的！

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

古特同正弦投影在 1925 年

被發明出來做為——聽好了——

an interrupted pseudo-cylindrical equal area projection.

一種「分瓣偽圓柱等面積投影」。

What does that mean? Not important.

什麼意思？不重要。

The point was to minimize distortion for the entire world.

重點是把整個世界的扭曲減到最小。

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

這種地圖可以做成 陸地導向或海洋導向。

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

不論是什麼導向， 這種所謂的橘皮地圖

都很不容易看懂。

The Dymaxion Projection by American architect Buckminster Fuller

美國建築師巴克敏斯特富勒

在 1940 年代發明的 戴美克森氏地圖投影還更好。

in the 1940s is even better.

Sorry, did we say better?

抱歉，剛才是說「更好」嗎？ 若要知道地點所在，它不會更好。

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

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

它更好的地方在於，

地圖上沒有任何明顯的陸地扭曲。

of the land masses.

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

不過，假設你想知道 巴西離奈及利亞有多遠，

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

從這張地圖上是找不到答案的。

The most accurate projection to date is the AuthaGraph World Map

至今，最正確的投影 是 AuthaGraph 世界地圖，

designed by Japanese architect Hajime Narukawa in 1999.

這是日本建築師鳴川肇 在 1999 年設計的。

The continents and oceans are almost completely in proportion,

圖上的大陸和海洋的比例幾乎都正確，

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

而且這張地圖是我們喜歡的長方形。

Could this be the perfect map?

完美的地圖難道就是它嗎？ 嗯……不是。

Well... no.

Since the Mercator works for navigation and reads clearly,

既然麥卡托的地圖 能用來導航也很容易看懂，

why bother with all these whacky maps?

何必為這些古怪的地圖傷腦筋？

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

阿諾彼得斯主張，

麥卡托的投影方式 會把歐洲和北美洲的國家放大，

the Mercator projection gives white nations a sense of supremacy

讓白人國家覺得自己 優於靠近赤道的非白人國家。

over non-white nations closer to the equator.

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

他採用的高爾－彼得斯投影法 能夠避免這個問題，

but the continents are still... stretched.

但地圖上的大陸仍然會被延展。

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

現今，我們越來越不需要 仰賴地圖來找方向，

but they still play a vital role in education.

但地圖仍然在教育上 扮演重要的角色。

Peters was definitely on to something:

彼得斯肯定是領會了一個道理：

no matter what map we’re looking at,

不論我們看的是哪一種地圖，

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

它都是從製圖者角度所訴說的故事，

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

因此它可能會以不恰當的方式

形塑我們對世界的看法。

Simple changes in map design,

將地圖設計做簡單的改變，

even changes that have nothing to do with how we transfer

即便這些改變與球形轉換成平面無關，

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

也可能完全改變我們的觀點。