Gerhardus Mercator was a man of maps and a man of faith born in what is now Belgium on March 5, 1512. His love of faith led him to write several books about God and the Bible. His passion for maps and geography fueled his creation of globes and maps. His most famous map was one on which he drew parallels and meridians as straight lines and spaced them in such a way as to maintain an accurate ratio of latitude to longitude at every point on the map. This was a huge benefit to sea captains of the day. He is also responsible for coining the word atlas, which we use today to refer to a collection of maps. Our short story read aloud today imagines a late evening Gerhardus spent on his maps, questioning why he worked so hard on the task.
Timeline Worksheet: March 5, 1512, Gerhardus Mercator
Fits World history timeline.*
*If you are new to this series, visit my introduction to timelines.
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