1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,600 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. The name 4 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:20,560 Speaker 1: gerardis Mercator has come up on the show a few times. 5 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:24,200 Speaker 1: He is most well known for making a map projection 6 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: that for a while just seemed to be ubiquitous in 7 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:31,760 Speaker 1: classrooms in some parts of the world. So if you're 8 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:34,560 Speaker 1: a little younger than Holly and I are, or maybe 9 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:36,559 Speaker 1: if you grew up somewhere else, this might not have 10 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 1: been your experience, but a whole whole lot of us 11 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:44,360 Speaker 1: learned what the world looked like from a pull down 12 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:49,240 Speaker 1: map mounted over the chalkboard that made Greenland look as 13 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:54,440 Speaker 1: big as Africa, which it definitely is not. Even though 14 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:58,320 Speaker 1: this map projection is way less common in classrooms today, 15 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 1: there's a digital version of it called web Mercater, and 16 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:05,120 Speaker 1: that's become kind of the de facto standard for online maps. 17 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: That's what Google Maps uses, although in Google also introduced 18 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:12,440 Speaker 1: the globe mode, which uses a different projection if you 19 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:16,720 Speaker 1: zoom all the way out. So the Mercator projection gets 20 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:19,600 Speaker 1: a lot of grief about how much it distorts the 21 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 1: relative sizes of different land masses. If you're about to 22 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:27,760 Speaker 1: fire off an angry email about us bad mouthing the 23 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:33,399 Speaker 1: Mercator projection, just hang on. Map projections translate a roughly 24 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:36,880 Speaker 1: sphirical planet to a two dimensional image, so all of 25 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: them are distorted in some way. You have to distort 26 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 1: something to make that translation work, and the Mercader projection 27 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:46,959 Speaker 1: was actually pretty good at what it was designed to do, 28 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:50,640 Speaker 1: which was to help people navigate long distances at sea. 29 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 1: So that is what we're going to talk about for 30 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:56,120 Speaker 1: today's episode, and just two level set. This is really 31 00:01:56,200 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 1: about European traditions of map making a navigation, so we're 32 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: going to talk about navigation and maps, but we won't 33 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: be talking about things like indigenous styles of map making 34 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: or Polynesian wayfinding things like that in this episode. They're 35 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:13,360 Speaker 1: outside the scope. So we will start with some of 36 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 1: the highlights from the worlds of cartography and navigation that 37 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:20,960 Speaker 1: led up to Mercat making his projection around the world. 38 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:25,360 Speaker 1: People probably started making maps before developing written languages meant 39 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: to represent words, and in general, cultures that did not 40 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:33,120 Speaker 1: develop their own written language did still develop ways of 41 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 1: making and sharing maps. But we don't have surviving examples 42 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:40,640 Speaker 1: of those very earliest maps. The oldest ones that we 43 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:45,239 Speaker 1: do have are comparatively more recent. Yeah, and one of 44 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 1: last year's On Earth episodes, we talked about the sand 45 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:52,200 Speaker 1: Bleak Slab, which dates back so between nineteen hundred and 46 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:56,800 Speaker 1: sixteen fifty BC, and that maybe the oldest known map 47 00:02:56,880 --> 00:03:00,200 Speaker 1: of Europe. The am I go Mundy, also called the 48 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: Babylonian Map of the World, dates back to about six 49 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:08,320 Speaker 1: hundred BC, and that's the oldest known world map, or 50 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 1: at least as much of the world as was known 51 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:12,959 Speaker 1: to the people who made it. It was at around 52 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 1: this same time that people started figuring out how to 53 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 1: make map projections again, ways to represent a roughly spherical 54 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:24,920 Speaker 1: Earth as a flat image. Greek mathematician the Lease of 55 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:27,160 Speaker 1: my Leadas, who lived in the seventh century b C, 56 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 1: is often credited with making the first map projection, although 57 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 1: he was making star maps rather than a map of 58 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:38,240 Speaker 1: the Earth. This may have been shortly before people started 59 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:41,520 Speaker 1: to figure out that the Earth itself was spherical, but 60 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:46,000 Speaker 1: that's been known since about five dred BC and about 61 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 1: to forty b C. E Aratasthenes of Syrene calculated the 62 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:56,040 Speaker 1: planet's circumference at about thousand stadia. We don't have exact 63 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: documentation of the process he used to do this, but 64 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: according to Greek geographer Strabo, who lived about two hundred 65 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: years later, this involved comparing shadows that were cast at 66 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:12,560 Speaker 1: noon on the summer solstice. So in Signy there was 67 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: no shadow that meant the sun was shining straight down, 68 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:20,560 Speaker 1: but in Alexandria a pole in its shadow formed an 69 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:24,440 Speaker 1: angle of about seven point two degrees or about one 70 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:29,000 Speaker 1: a circle. So they had professional surveyors measure the distance 71 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:33,880 Speaker 1: between Signy and Alexandria. That was five thousand stadius, so 72 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:38,960 Speaker 1: five thousand times fifty is two fifty thousand. Today Signy 73 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 1: is as one Egypt. Around the second century BC, Greek 74 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:48,279 Speaker 1: astronomer Hipparchus started using latitude and longitude to describe the 75 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: locations of places on the globe. About four hundred years 76 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 1: after that, Greek mathematician and geographer Ptolemy published his treatise 77 00:04:56,839 --> 00:05:01,000 Speaker 1: known as the Geography, which documented an establ lished many 78 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 1: of the basic principles of cartography used in the Western 79 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:10,400 Speaker 1: tradition of map making, including various map projections. Magnetic compasses 80 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:13,040 Speaker 1: were first developed in China all the way back in 81 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:17,400 Speaker 1: about two hundred BC, but their first uses for navigational 82 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: purposes seemed to have come along a lot later. The 83 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:24,920 Speaker 1: first written reference to navigational compasses in China dates back 84 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 1: to about the year ten forty, and in Europe they 85 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 1: were in use by about the end of the twelfth century. 86 00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:35,040 Speaker 1: By about the thirteenth century, navigators in the Mediterranean we're 87 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:38,880 Speaker 1: using Portolan charts to plot their courses. These charts were 88 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:42,080 Speaker 1: usually made on vellum to be more durable, and they 89 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:45,599 Speaker 1: typically showed coastlines and islands labeled with the names of 90 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,720 Speaker 1: ports and towns, and the standard was for the names 91 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:51,120 Speaker 1: to be written on the land as much as possible, 92 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:54,279 Speaker 1: not on the water, so that the labeling didn't get 93 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:59,360 Speaker 1: in the way of navigational information. That navigational information was 94 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:03,839 Speaker 1: shown through compass roses. These were marked with wind directions, 95 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:07,560 Speaker 1: both the principal directions like north and southwest and the 96 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:12,479 Speaker 1: half winds like east, northeast and south southwest. It was 97 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:15,800 Speaker 1: shown through straight lines. Also, many of these lines radiating 98 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:19,000 Speaker 1: out like the spokes of a wheel, and these represented 99 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:23,720 Speaker 1: compass bearings. These straight lines are called rum lines or 100 00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:27,960 Speaker 1: locks of dromes. If someone were sailing between two ports 101 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:31,000 Speaker 1: connected by a rum line on one of these charts, 102 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 1: they could set their bearing according to the angle of 103 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:37,279 Speaker 1: that line, depending on where they were going. They also 104 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:40,640 Speaker 1: might start along one bearing and then change angles along 105 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:43,719 Speaker 1: the way, or they might use a straight edge to 106 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:46,760 Speaker 1: plot out of course between two points, with the angle 107 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:50,240 Speaker 1: of the straight edge providing the compass bearing. So there's 108 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:52,760 Speaker 1: a little bit of guesswork here, because while some of 109 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:56,360 Speaker 1: these charts have survived until today, there aren't really very 110 00:06:56,400 --> 00:07:00,040 Speaker 1: many of them, and there are no surviving instructions of 111 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:03,840 Speaker 1: how to use them. Even the name Portland Charts seems 112 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:07,640 Speaker 1: to have been coined centuries after the charts themselves mostly 113 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 1: fell out of use. The charts most likely to have 114 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:15,560 Speaker 1: survived until today are also library or display copies, not 115 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: ones that were actually taken to see. Even even if 116 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:21,720 Speaker 1: it's met have made a vellum to be more durable. 117 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:23,840 Speaker 1: If you take a chart out onto the ocean, it's 118 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:26,640 Speaker 1: going to be damaged by use and exposure to the elements. 119 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:29,480 Speaker 1: We don't really know who made the first one of 120 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 1: these or where, and we don't have early enough versions 121 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:36,440 Speaker 1: of them to kind of suggest how they might have evolved. 122 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:40,480 Speaker 1: As people improved on them. Portland charts, who are mostly 123 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 1: used in Europe from about th hundred to fift hundred. 124 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: As far as we know, they worked pretty well for 125 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:50,280 Speaker 1: navigating around bodies of water like the Mediterranean Sea or 126 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:54,080 Speaker 1: the Black Sea or the Atlantic coast of Europe. As 127 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 1: European navigators started voyaging farther away in the sixteenth century, 128 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:02,200 Speaker 1: portaland charts were expanded to include the information they brought 129 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 1: back about the coast of Africa, Asia, and the America's 130 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 1: world maps were also evolving significantly during this same period. 131 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:15,560 Speaker 1: Ptolemy's geography was translated into Latin for the first time 132 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: in the early fifteenth century. It had already been translated 133 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 1: into Arabic centuries before that, but once it was available 134 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:26,640 Speaker 1: in Latin, it once again became influential in European map making. 135 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 1: For a while, these portland nautical charts and maps of 136 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:35,719 Speaker 1: the world or particular regions of the world evolved alongside 137 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:38,320 Speaker 1: one another, and they kind of to some extent borrowed 138 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:43,240 Speaker 1: from each other, although sometimes cartographers who were focused on 139 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 1: the geography of the Earth ignored information on charts that 140 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:50,800 Speaker 1: had been made by navigators. The kind of viewed these 141 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:55,120 Speaker 1: navigational charts as inferior, even though often these charts were 142 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:58,640 Speaker 1: more precise and accurate than the maps that they were 143 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: working from. Of course, that is the work of learned 144 00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:08,720 Speaker 1: men who are actually doing the things, not tradespeople. As 145 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:12,720 Speaker 1: more Europeans crossed the Atlantic and returned to Europe, cartographers 146 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:16,439 Speaker 1: started adding what they found to their maps. In seven 147 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:19,600 Speaker 1: Martin Wald similar printed a world map using a set 148 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:24,360 Speaker 1: of twelve woodblocks. Working with scholar Matthias Ringman. He pulled 149 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 1: in geographic information from multiple sources, including Ptolemy and Marco Polo, 150 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:34,000 Speaker 1: and information from nautical charts detailing the southern coasts of Africa. 151 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:38,120 Speaker 1: He also drew from European explorers accounts of what lay 152 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:42,599 Speaker 1: on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. In particular, 153 00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:47,720 Speaker 1: vald Simular and Ringman referenced the work of Italian navigator 154 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:52,880 Speaker 1: Emerigo Vespucci, who's voyages took place between four and fifteen 155 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:56,959 Speaker 1: o four. There are some question marks around Vespucci's voyages, 156 00:09:57,240 --> 00:10:00,760 Speaker 1: including some doubts about the authenticity of of the letters 157 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:04,199 Speaker 1: that are attributed to him and described the voyages, but 158 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:07,920 Speaker 1: this map showed a landmass on the other side of 159 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 1: the Atlantic Ocean, a landmass that was separate from Asia. 160 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:15,880 Speaker 1: Of course, Vespucci had no concept of how far to 161 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:19,640 Speaker 1: the west this land mass stretch because his voyages had 162 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:23,560 Speaker 1: mostly stuck to the continent's eastern coast, but vald Simular 163 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:29,000 Speaker 1: called this land mass America after him. Vald Simular's map 164 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:33,920 Speaker 1: was focused on geography, not navigation. He used a variation 165 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:38,160 Speaker 1: on one of Ptolemy's projections called Klamas or Cloak. On 166 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:41,920 Speaker 1: this projection, the lines of latitude and longitude are curved, 167 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:45,720 Speaker 1: making the globe into kind of a drapey, rounded off rectangle. 168 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:51,120 Speaker 1: Vald Simular's map showed landmasses, including the America's as two 169 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:55,320 Speaker 1: narrow continents connected by an isthmus. It also showed some 170 00:10:55,400 --> 00:11:00,160 Speaker 1: geographic features like rivers and mountains and lots of place names, 171 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:03,880 Speaker 1: but it didn't have the navigational elements of compass roses 172 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:08,360 Speaker 1: or rum lines. Gerardis Mercater's most famous projection, on the 173 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:12,760 Speaker 1: other hand, combined both navigational and geographic elements, and we 174 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:20,160 Speaker 1: will talk more about that after a quick sponsor break. 175 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 1: Gerardis Mercater was born on March fifteenth, fifteen twelve, in 176 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:33,199 Speaker 1: rupelmonda Flanders, which is now in Belgium. His parents were 177 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:38,160 Speaker 1: Hubert and Emmerantianna Cramer. They named him Gerhard Cramer, and 178 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:41,720 Speaker 1: then he latinized his name during his education, so that 179 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:46,680 Speaker 1: morph from Gerhard to gerardis like, that's pretty straightforward. The 180 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:52,000 Speaker 1: name Kramer meant merchant, and that's MerCad in Latin. Probably 181 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:54,760 Speaker 1: none of this was pronounced the way we do it today. 182 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:58,120 Speaker 1: Hubert was a cobbler and the family really did not 183 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:02,080 Speaker 1: have much money, so Gerhard's uncle Geisberg helped arrange for 184 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:06,040 Speaker 1: his education. Gerhard started out at a school that trained 185 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:09,400 Speaker 1: boys from less well off backgrounds for the priesthood, so 186 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:13,080 Speaker 1: his early education was focused on things like theology and Latin. 187 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:17,000 Speaker 1: In fifteen thirty he enrolled at the University of Louvain 188 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:20,600 Speaker 1: also called the Old University of louven under the name 189 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:25,959 Speaker 1: Gerardis Mercator Rumbelmandanus. He studied philosophy and the humanities, and 190 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:29,280 Speaker 1: he graduated with a master's degree in fifteen thirty two. 191 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:34,240 Speaker 1: Mercator also spent some time trying to reconcile his religious 192 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:38,720 Speaker 1: education with his education and science, particularly conflicts between the 193 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:42,800 Speaker 1: Biblical account of creation and the work of Aristotle. For 194 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:46,680 Speaker 1: about two years, he studied and he corresponded with religious 195 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:50,560 Speaker 1: scholars and Mcellen and Antwerp, both of which were in 196 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:55,560 Speaker 1: the Flemish region of what's now Belgium. In fifteen thirty four, 197 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:59,720 Speaker 1: Mercator married Barbara Skellicons and they eventually had six children 198 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:03,600 Speaker 1: together there Not long after getting married, Mercator started working 199 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:09,480 Speaker 1: with mathematician, cartographer, and instrument maker Gemma Frisius. Marcator had 200 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:12,160 Speaker 1: studied with Frisius at the university, and the two men 201 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:16,080 Speaker 1: teamed up with goldsmith Gaspar Vander Hayden also known as 202 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:21,240 Speaker 1: Gaspar America, to make scientific instruments and globes, and together 203 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:23,640 Speaker 1: they made a globe of the Earth in fifteen thirty 204 00:13:23,679 --> 00:13:28,160 Speaker 1: six and a celestial globe in fifteen thirty seven. Mercator 205 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:31,880 Speaker 1: was also making maps of his own. In fifteen thirty seven, 206 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:35,400 Speaker 1: he made a map of what's now Egypt, Israel, and Palestine, 207 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:38,680 Speaker 1: and that was printed across six sheets. This is a 208 00:13:38,679 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: pretty big map. There's some speculation that he chose this 209 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:44,960 Speaker 1: region for one of his first solo map projects because 210 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:49,080 Speaker 1: of his interest in Christianity. A year later, Marcador finished 211 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:53,400 Speaker 1: his first world map. This map was a double cortiform projection, 212 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:57,280 Speaker 1: shaped roughly like two hearts lying on their sides with 213 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:00,360 Speaker 1: their points touching in the center of the map. The 214 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:04,000 Speaker 1: northern hemisphere is on one heart and the southern hemispherre 215 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:07,640 Speaker 1: is on the other. Like vald Similar, Mercater used the 216 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:10,760 Speaker 1: name America, in this case spelled with an E on 217 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:14,040 Speaker 1: the end. As he was working on these maps, Mercater 218 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:17,520 Speaker 1: was also working as an instrument maker and an engraver, 219 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:20,320 Speaker 1: and he was becoming really well respected in all of 220 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:23,840 Speaker 1: these fields. In fifteen forty he published his first book, 221 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:27,000 Speaker 1: which was a treatise on the Italic lettering that he 222 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:30,280 Speaker 1: was using for his maps. The title of this treatise 223 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:34,560 Speaker 1: translated as the idea of writing Latin letters, which they 224 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:38,920 Speaker 1: call Italic or Cursive. He also carved the wood blocks 225 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:41,880 Speaker 1: that were used to illustrate the letters in this text. 226 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:45,320 Speaker 1: Mercater thought that Italic type was a lot more legible 227 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:48,440 Speaker 1: than other styles of lettering, and he advocated for its 228 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:50,600 Speaker 1: use in map making to try to make the maps 229 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:54,800 Speaker 1: more readable. In fifteen forty, at the request of Flemish 230 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:59,440 Speaker 1: map makers, Mercater also made a map of Flanders. One 231 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:03,120 Speaker 1: he started focusing on making globes. This was something that 232 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:06,960 Speaker 1: required a huge amount of skill. The globe maker had 233 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:09,360 Speaker 1: to create a set of flat gores that would all 234 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:12,040 Speaker 1: line up correctly once they were mounted onto a sphere. 235 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:18,080 Speaker 1: In Mercat made a navigator's globe using twelve gores with 236 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:21,360 Speaker 1: caps for the north and south poles. This was marked 237 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:24,640 Speaker 1: with lines of longitude and latitude, and with rum lines 238 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:28,440 Speaker 1: that were connecting different points and fanning out from compass roses. 239 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:32,880 Speaker 1: This was the first known time that someone included rum 240 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:36,800 Speaker 1: lines on a globe, and a note on that. As 241 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:39,720 Speaker 1: we said earlier, on a flat map, a rum line 242 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:43,000 Speaker 1: is a straight line connecting two points, but that's not 243 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:46,640 Speaker 1: the shortest path between the two points. That would be 244 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:50,480 Speaker 1: the great circle path. Imagine connecting two points on a 245 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 1: globe with string and pulling that string as tight as possible, 246 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:57,520 Speaker 1: and if you extend the ends of the string until 247 00:15:57,560 --> 00:16:01,240 Speaker 1: they encircle the whole world, creating circle whose center is 248 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:04,680 Speaker 1: at the center of the earth, that is a great circle. 249 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:08,680 Speaker 1: The lines of longitude on a globe are all great circles, 250 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:11,200 Speaker 1: as is the equator, but the rest of the lines 251 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:13,960 Speaker 1: of latitude are not. Since the center of the circle 252 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:17,680 Speaker 1: they make isn't also the center of the earth. A 253 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:21,320 Speaker 1: navigator following a rum line from a flat map sets 254 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:24,480 Speaker 1: a compass bearing and follows it, but following a great 255 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:29,320 Speaker 1: circle path requires continually shifting directions to move in a curve. 256 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:33,160 Speaker 1: And while rub lines are straight lines on a flat map, 257 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:36,360 Speaker 1: if you draw them on a globe, they eventually form 258 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:39,320 Speaker 1: into spirals if they get long enough, with the spiral 259 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:42,440 Speaker 1: getting smaller the closer it gets to the polls. So 260 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:47,080 Speaker 1: setting a compass bearing wants to travel along a rum 261 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:49,920 Speaker 1: line from a map, It's probably the easier way because 262 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:52,000 Speaker 1: you set your heading one time and then you follow it, 263 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:55,560 Speaker 1: but it would not be shorter, especially over very long distances. 264 00:16:56,160 --> 00:17:00,680 Speaker 1: Portuguese scholar Pedro Nownus articulated the difference between rome lines 265 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:04,920 Speaker 1: and great circles in a treatise he wrote, including Treatise 266 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:08,840 Speaker 1: on Certain Doubts of Navigation in fifteen thirty seven, so 267 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:12,000 Speaker 1: back to Mercader. He was doing this work as the 268 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:15,400 Speaker 1: counter Reformation was starting to develop in parts of Europe. 269 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:19,520 Speaker 1: This was a Catholic response to the Protestant Reformation, with 270 00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:23,400 Speaker 1: the Roman Inquisition established in fifteen forty two in an 271 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:27,280 Speaker 1: effort to combat what the Catholic Church saw as heresy. 272 00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:31,320 Speaker 1: In fifteen forty four, forty three residents of Leuven were 273 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:35,480 Speaker 1: arrested for heresy, and one of those people was Girardis Mercader. 274 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:39,600 Speaker 1: When Marcador was arrested, he was actually back in Ruplemanda. 275 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:42,800 Speaker 1: His uncle Jeezbert had died and Mercator had gone back 276 00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:46,760 Speaker 1: to settle his affairs. But authorities framed this trip as 277 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:50,120 Speaker 1: a flight from justice, and they were also really suspicious 278 00:17:50,119 --> 00:17:54,760 Speaker 1: of that earlier correspondence he'd had with religious scholars. MerCad 279 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:58,520 Speaker 1: was arrested and imprisoned for seven months, as his wife 280 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:01,919 Speaker 1: and their parish curate and various other people tried to 281 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:05,800 Speaker 1: get him freed. Four of the people who were arrested 282 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:08,600 Speaker 1: at the same time as Mercader was we're all executed. 283 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:12,879 Speaker 1: It is not clear why Mercador was ultimately released, and 284 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:17,320 Speaker 1: it's also not entirely clear what his religious convictions actually were. 285 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:22,119 Speaker 1: Different historians have come too vastly different conclusions based on 286 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:26,879 Speaker 1: the information that's available. He lived in a predominantly Protestant area, 287 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:30,520 Speaker 1: but after all this he still had Catholic patrons, and 288 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:34,520 Speaker 1: Catholics still bought and used his maps in about fifteen 289 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:38,840 Speaker 1: fifty two, Mercater moved to Duisburg, where he lectured at 290 00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:42,399 Speaker 1: the University of Duisburg and helped establish a school. He 291 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:46,439 Speaker 1: taught math and helped create the mathematics curriculum. There, he 292 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:49,600 Speaker 1: became friends with John d who later became an advisor 293 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:53,159 Speaker 1: to Queen Elizabeth the First. Mercader also made more maps, 294 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:56,960 Speaker 1: including new maps of various parts of Europe and maps 295 00:18:57,040 --> 00:19:00,040 Speaker 1: that were based on the earlier work of Ptolemy. He 296 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:02,720 Speaker 1: was not doing all of this map making work by himself. 297 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:06,679 Speaker 1: He had a whole staff of cartographers and mathematicians, and 298 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:09,679 Speaker 1: for maps that were in color, there were also colorists 299 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:13,640 Speaker 1: who were typically women. In fifteen fifty four, Mercater made 300 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:17,600 Speaker 1: a map of Britain that has raised some questions. It 301 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:20,240 Speaker 1: wasn't as accurate or up to date as some other 302 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:22,479 Speaker 1: maps of the area that were already in use at 303 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:25,800 Speaker 1: the time, and it didn't note several bishoprics that Henry 304 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:29,359 Speaker 1: the eighth had established after breaking with Rome and establishing 305 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:32,840 Speaker 1: himself as head of the Church of England two decades prior. 306 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:36,360 Speaker 1: It is not clear whether this is just because mer 307 00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:39,920 Speaker 1: Cater was working with older sources for some reason, or 308 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:42,720 Speaker 1: if he thought including those bishoprics would offend his more 309 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:48,080 Speaker 1: staunchly Catholic patrons. Mercater created another map of England, Scotland 310 00:19:48,119 --> 00:19:50,800 Speaker 1: and Ireland about a decade later, and that was far 311 00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:54,920 Speaker 1: more complete by the fifteen sixties. Regardless of all that, 312 00:19:55,040 --> 00:19:58,560 Speaker 1: mar Cater was a highly respected map maker and an 313 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:02,440 Speaker 1: instrument maker and an engraver, and in fifteen sixty four 314 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:05,920 Speaker 1: he was appointed court cosmographer to Duke phil Him of Clive. 315 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:09,479 Speaker 1: A few years after that he made his most famous 316 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: map projection, and we'll get to that after a sponsor break. 317 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:25,719 Speaker 1: In fifteen sixty nine, Gerardis Mercator published a map of 318 00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:29,040 Speaker 1: the world that was intended to be used for c navigation. 319 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:33,200 Speaker 1: He titled this New and Augmented Description of the Earth 320 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:37,080 Speaker 1: Corrected for Use in Navigation. He described what he had 321 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:41,359 Speaker 1: done as squaring the Circle. This was a big map, 322 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 1: printed over eighteen sheets and in total measuring two hundred 323 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:48,640 Speaker 1: two by a hundred and twenty four centimeters or seventy 324 00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:53,679 Speaker 1: nine by almost fifty inches. Only three original copies of 325 00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:56,320 Speaker 1: this map remain today, at least that we know of. 326 00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:58,680 Speaker 1: There was a fourth one still in existence at the 327 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:01,680 Speaker 1: start of the twentieth century, but it was destroyed during 328 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:06,119 Speaker 1: World War two. Mrcater had created a cylindrical projection of 329 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,879 Speaker 1: the Earth. All the lines of longitude were parallel, and 330 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:13,119 Speaker 1: they intersected at ninety degree angles with all the lines 331 00:21:13,119 --> 00:21:17,159 Speaker 1: of latitude on a globe. The lines of longitude converge 332 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:20,400 Speaker 1: as they approached the north and south poles, so mrcater 333 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:23,280 Speaker 1: had to stretch everything out to make the line straight 334 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:27,600 Speaker 1: and parallel. Instead, the farther something was from the equator, 335 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:30,880 Speaker 1: the more he had to stretch it out, and as 336 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:34,440 Speaker 1: part of this stretch, the lines of latitude are progressively 337 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:39,040 Speaker 1: farther apart the farther they are from the polls. Mrcater 338 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:42,840 Speaker 1: didn't explain exactly how he did this. It was not 339 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:45,240 Speaker 1: as simple as just drawing a bunch of lines on 340 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:47,240 Speaker 1: paper with a straight edge and then filling in the 341 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:50,240 Speaker 1: map details. There was a lot of math involved in 342 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:54,040 Speaker 1: creating the lines of latitude and longitude and spacing them 343 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:57,679 Speaker 1: out correctly, and in adjusting the sizes and the shapes 344 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:00,720 Speaker 1: of all the land masses. But the math that Mercador 345 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:03,960 Speaker 1: had access to wasn't as advanced as the math that 346 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:07,680 Speaker 1: exists today. For example, calculus that would not be invented 347 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:11,520 Speaker 1: for more than a hundred more years. There is still 348 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:17,440 Speaker 1: speculation today about exactly what mathematical and cartographic steps Mercader 349 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:21,000 Speaker 1: took to make this projection. He may not have been 350 00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:23,879 Speaker 1: the first person to create a projection like this, though 351 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:29,480 Speaker 1: German astronomer, instrument maker and cartographer Earhart Etslau made a 352 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:32,919 Speaker 1: map known as the compass map in fifteen eleven, with 353 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:37,800 Speaker 1: another version in One of these maps has survived on 354 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:41,000 Speaker 1: the lid of a portable sundial, and it has similar 355 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:44,320 Speaker 1: spacing noted for the lines of latitude, but this map 356 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:47,640 Speaker 1: is also quite small, so it's hard to tell the details. 357 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:51,359 Speaker 1: It's not clear whether Mercador knew about this map or 358 00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:55,920 Speaker 1: whether it may have inspired him to try something similar. Regardless, 359 00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:59,960 Speaker 1: as we said on Mercator's projection, the lines of longitude 360 00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:04,600 Speaker 1: and latitude intersected one another at right angles. This map 361 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:08,119 Speaker 1: was covered in rum lines that radiated out from central points, 362 00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:11,280 Speaker 1: and if you put a straight edge down on the map, 363 00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:14,639 Speaker 1: you could draw a line between any two points and 364 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:17,720 Speaker 1: that would cross the meridians at the same angle from 365 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:21,639 Speaker 1: ends to end. You could measure that angle, and that 366 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:25,280 Speaker 1: was your compass bearing for your journey. This was not 367 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:29,719 Speaker 1: a completely perfect system. Ships don't travel in straight lines, 368 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:33,399 Speaker 1: especially when they're powered by sale. There are variations in 369 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:38,080 Speaker 1: wind and current and other factors involved. Mariners in Europe 370 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:40,960 Speaker 1: had been using astrolabes to figure out their latitude since 371 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 1: about the middle of the fifteenth century, but they didn't 372 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:46,840 Speaker 1: yet have a good way to measure their longitude. That 373 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:51,040 Speaker 1: continued to be an issue until the eighteenth century. Then 374 00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:53,840 Speaker 1: we have an episode on that in the archive. The 375 00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:59,639 Speaker 1: Earth's magnetic field also isn't quite as orderly and uniform 376 00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:02,359 Speaker 1: as it was believed to be at the time. People 377 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:05,960 Speaker 1: knew that the geographic and the magnetic north poles were 378 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:09,600 Speaker 1: not in the exact same spot, but the details of 379 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:13,840 Speaker 1: that weren't fully understood. People in China had measured the 380 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:16,720 Speaker 1: difference between the magnetic and geographic north pole for the 381 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:18,880 Speaker 1: first time all the way back in about the year 382 00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:22,280 Speaker 1: seven twenty, but Europeans didn't make note of it until 383 00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:26,960 Speaker 1: roughly seven hundred more years after that. The first precise 384 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:31,160 Speaker 1: measurement of magnetic declination, which is the difference in those 385 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:34,919 Speaker 1: two things. The first precise measurement of that in Europe 386 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:38,280 Speaker 1: took place in fifteen ten, and when Mercatur made this 387 00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:41,560 Speaker 1: map almost sixty years later. There were still lots of 388 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:46,240 Speaker 1: questions about how that angle varied around the globe, and 389 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:49,640 Speaker 1: while the America's were somewhat expanded from the way they 390 00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:53,040 Speaker 1: were shown in the vald Simular map on Mercaturs fifteen 391 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:55,960 Speaker 1: sixty nine map, they still were not nearly as accurate 392 00:24:56,080 --> 00:25:00,240 Speaker 1: or detailed as Europe, Asia and Africa were. This map 393 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:04,280 Speaker 1: showed things like rivers, mountains, and towns, but far fewer 394 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:07,800 Speaker 1: of those are noted in the America's. Europeans had not 395 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:11,119 Speaker 1: set foot on Australia at all, so that continent marked 396 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:15,439 Speaker 1: as Nova Guinea is a featureless blob. Okay, it's just 397 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:19,040 Speaker 1: like a spot there on the map, roughly the same shape, 398 00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:24,600 Speaker 1: not exactly it's Australia ish. Yeah. The western coast of 399 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:28,760 Speaker 1: the America's is also like not it's not shaped exactly right. 400 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:30,720 Speaker 1: I mean, there's there was a lot that was still 401 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:33,920 Speaker 1: a work in progress, but still this is a huge 402 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:37,600 Speaker 1: advance for European navigators. It was a flat map intended 403 00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:40,960 Speaker 1: for navigation at see, showing as much of the world 404 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:44,120 Speaker 1: as Europeans knew about, and it would allow a sailor 405 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:46,879 Speaker 1: to plot out a course by drawing a line with 406 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:50,399 Speaker 1: a straight edge, as is often the case, though it 407 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:53,159 Speaker 1: took a while for it to really catch on. In 408 00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:56,400 Speaker 1: the meantime, Mr Cat kept working on other projects, including 409 00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:59,040 Speaker 1: working on a collection of maps that he planned to 410 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:02,119 Speaker 1: call and at Us, taking the name from the Titan 411 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:05,800 Speaker 1: from Greek mythology, who holds up to heavens. This was 412 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:09,120 Speaker 1: the first use of atlas to mean a collection of maps. 413 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:13,560 Speaker 1: In fifteen sixty nine, he also published a chronology of 414 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:16,800 Speaker 1: the world from the creation to at the time the present. 415 00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:20,160 Speaker 1: He planned to include this chronology as the first part 416 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:24,880 Speaker 1: of his Atlas. This chronology included things like astronomical events, 417 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:28,560 Speaker 1: so stuff like eclipses. There were also historical events and 418 00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:32,400 Speaker 1: moments from the Bible. This chronology wound up being banned 419 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:35,240 Speaker 1: in some places because it included a number of events 420 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:39,600 Speaker 1: that were related to the Protestant Reformation. In fifteen seventy eight, 421 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:42,200 Speaker 1: he published another work that it would eventually be part 422 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:45,040 Speaker 1: of the atlas. That was a collection of twenty seven 423 00:26:45,119 --> 00:26:49,760 Speaker 1: of Ptolemy's maps with corrections and commentary. Then in the 424 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:53,680 Speaker 1: fifteen eighties he published two collections of maps, both titled 425 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,760 Speaker 1: Atlas or Cosmographic meditations on the Fabric of the World 426 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:01,400 Speaker 1: and the Figure of the Fabric. One of these came 427 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:03,840 Speaker 1: out in fifteen eighty five, the other came out in 428 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:08,600 Speaker 1: fifteen eighty nine. Mercader's plan and his goal for all 429 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:11,520 Speaker 1: of this was to include maps of all of Europe 430 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:14,520 Speaker 1: and his atlas, but before he was able to finish that, 431 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:18,719 Speaker 1: he died on December two fifty four. He had had 432 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:21,720 Speaker 1: a series of strokes starting in fifteen ninety and had 433 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:25,000 Speaker 1: become partially paralyzed, and his work on this had slowed 434 00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:28,200 Speaker 1: down as a result of all of that. His son 435 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:31,320 Speaker 1: rum Old, finished as much as he could and published 436 00:27:31,359 --> 00:27:36,399 Speaker 1: the final edition of Mercader's Atlas in five It included 437 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:38,960 Speaker 1: the seventy four maps that had been part of Mercader's 438 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:43,119 Speaker 1: earlier two editions, along with twenty eight more. Some of 439 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:45,840 Speaker 1: these maps were based on Ptolemy's work and some were 440 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:50,560 Speaker 1: Mercader's own. In the end, Spain and Portugal were mostly 441 00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:53,560 Speaker 1: left out of the atlas because Mercater had not been 442 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:57,720 Speaker 1: able to make those maps yet. Eventually, Mercater's sons sold 443 00:27:57,720 --> 00:27:59,720 Speaker 1: the plates that were used to print the atlas to 444 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:05,399 Speaker 1: graver and publisher Yodokus Hondius. Handias added more maps and 445 00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:08,640 Speaker 1: published another version in sixteen o six that became known 446 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:13,440 Speaker 1: as the Mercatur Hondius Atlas. Thirty different editions of the 447 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:17,600 Speaker 1: Mercater Hondius Atlas were published in various languages between sixteen 448 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:22,000 Speaker 1: o six and sixteen forty one. Although Hondias had bought 449 00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:25,040 Speaker 1: the plates outright and could just do whatever he wanted 450 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:27,680 Speaker 1: to with them, he kept Mercad's name on the atlas, 451 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:30,800 Speaker 1: in part because it just had so much respected name recognition. 452 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:35,959 Speaker 1: People were also making improvements and adjustments to Mercat's fifteen 453 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:39,480 Speaker 1: sixty nine world map. Thomas Harriet, who was working for 454 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:44,160 Speaker 1: Sir Walter Raleigh, created tables of meridional parts along with 455 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:48,080 Speaker 1: Edward Wright. These allowed other map makers to lay out 456 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:51,720 Speaker 1: the longitude and latitude grid that Mercater had used. We 457 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:54,800 Speaker 1: also have an entire episode on Thomas Harriet in the Archives. 458 00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:58,560 Speaker 1: Right often get Soul credit for these tables because they 459 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:01,920 Speaker 1: were published under his name as part of his fift 460 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:07,400 Speaker 1: Certain errors in navigation arising either of the ordinary erroneous 461 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:11,680 Speaker 1: making or using of the c chart, compass, cross staff, 462 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:15,880 Speaker 1: and tables of declination of the sun and fixed stars 463 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:21,880 Speaker 1: detected and corrected. Also, in fifteen nine, British geographer Richard 464 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:25,920 Speaker 1: Hacklett incorporated a map that Wright had drawn based on 465 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:31,760 Speaker 1: Mercator's projection in his Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffics and Discoveries 466 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:36,440 Speaker 1: of the English Nation. This map corrected some inaccuracies and 467 00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:39,680 Speaker 1: mercaters work, and it was really after this point that 468 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:43,200 Speaker 1: the Mercader projection started to get a lot more practical 469 00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:47,440 Speaker 1: use for nautical navigation. The Mercader projection was also part 470 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:51,960 Speaker 1: of Robert Dudley's sixteen forty seven c atlas and Edmund 471 00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:57,360 Speaker 1: Halley's meteorological maps. In seventeen sixty nine, Benjamin Franklin and 472 00:29:57,440 --> 00:30:01,520 Speaker 1: whaling captain Timothy Folger made a of the Gulf Stream 473 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:06,120 Speaker 1: based on a Mercater projection. By the nineteenth century, Mercater 474 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:10,240 Speaker 1: based maps were well established for navigational purposes, and into 475 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:14,200 Speaker 1: the twentieth century, different variations on the Mercater projection were 476 00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:18,640 Speaker 1: also used for things like calculating missile trajectories. Although the 477 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:22,440 Speaker 1: Mercater projection is still used for navigation in some contexts, 478 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:24,480 Speaker 1: and like we said at the top of the show, 479 00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:28,320 Speaker 1: pretty much all online maps are using it in some cases, 480 00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:32,200 Speaker 1: it has been supplanted by things like GPS. But the 481 00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:35,120 Speaker 1: thing that most people are probably the most familiar with, 482 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:38,040 Speaker 1: at least if you're older than thirty five or so, 483 00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:42,400 Speaker 1: is maps used in school, especially these pulled down maps 484 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:46,560 Speaker 1: that could be mounted on a wall. Mercater wall maps 485 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:50,800 Speaker 1: for schools became increasingly popular as the maps were becoming 486 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:55,120 Speaker 1: more widely accepted for c navigation, so more of them 487 00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:58,160 Speaker 1: were made by the eighteenth century, and then they became 488 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:02,560 Speaker 1: seemingly entrenched by the nineteenth century. Some of this was 489 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:05,320 Speaker 1: probably just because people thought a map that was being 490 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:09,360 Speaker 1: so widely used for navigation must be the most accurate map, 491 00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:13,280 Speaker 1: but of course companies were also making more of these 492 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:16,400 Speaker 1: maps in response to that demand, which meant if you 493 00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:18,280 Speaker 1: needed to go buy a map for your school, that 494 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:20,920 Speaker 1: was probably going to be the one most readily available 495 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:24,840 Speaker 1: to buy. This is just not a great map for 496 00:31:24,920 --> 00:31:29,240 Speaker 1: learning what the world looks like, though. It wildly distorts 497 00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:32,760 Speaker 1: the relative size of various land masses, with that distortion 498 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:36,080 Speaker 1: getting worse the farther away you get from the equator. 499 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:38,400 Speaker 1: So just like we said at the top of the show, 500 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:41,840 Speaker 1: it makes Greenland look as big as Africa. Africa is 501 00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:45,840 Speaker 1: really more than fourteen times larger than Greenland, so that's 502 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:50,320 Speaker 1: a mess. The continent of Africa is larger than the 503 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:54,120 Speaker 1: United States, India, and China combined, but you would not 504 00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:58,320 Speaker 1: know that by looking at a Mercater projection. Antarctica also 505 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:03,280 Speaker 1: looks truly enormous. The website the True size dot Com 506 00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:06,200 Speaker 1: has a dragon drop tool that people can use to 507 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:11,120 Speaker 1: compare how big different countries and regions really are. Added 508 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:15,040 Speaker 1: to that and the Mercader projection North is up and 509 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:18,480 Speaker 1: Europe is roughly in the center of the map, Mercador 510 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:21,280 Speaker 1: was definitely not the first person to do this. Ptolemy 511 00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:25,440 Speaker 1: also made maps in which North was up. The Waldsimuler 512 00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:28,240 Speaker 1: map that we discussed earlier also had North at the 513 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:31,320 Speaker 1: top and Europe roughly in the center. If you look 514 00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:33,920 Speaker 1: at a really old maps that are not with the 515 00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:36,280 Speaker 1: North is up standards, some of them have South up 516 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:40,040 Speaker 1: or East up like that. Other directions can be up. Uh. 517 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:44,800 Speaker 1: There is an argument that the Mercader projections ubiquity, combined 518 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:47,960 Speaker 1: with these size differences and North being up and Europe 519 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:51,080 Speaker 1: being roughly in the middle, that makes this a particularly 520 00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:56,880 Speaker 1: eurocentric map. Also, maybe not intentionally and maybe not consciously 521 00:32:57,520 --> 00:33:00,960 Speaker 1: but in Western culture, bigger is often seen as better, 522 00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:03,760 Speaker 1: and things on top are often seen as being more 523 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:07,440 Speaker 1: important than things on the bottom. There's not a lot 524 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:09,840 Speaker 1: of data to back up the idea that in the 525 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:14,080 Speaker 1: real world, mercater projections make people think the northern hemisphere, 526 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:18,040 Speaker 1: particularly Europe, is the biggest, most important thing on the planet. 527 00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:20,520 Speaker 1: But still for a lot of us, that is the 528 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:23,080 Speaker 1: mental image we have, with Europe at the heart of 529 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:26,480 Speaker 1: it and the global North towering over the global South. 530 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:29,720 Speaker 1: There have also been times when the Mercader projection has 531 00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:34,960 Speaker 1: been put to an intentionally explicitly political use. I mean, 532 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:38,080 Speaker 1: you could argue that all maps are political, but this 533 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:41,320 Speaker 1: and this thing I'm about to talk about definitely done 534 00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:44,440 Speaker 1: for political reasons. So, for example, during the Cold War, 535 00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:48,680 Speaker 1: the Mercader projection could make a great backdrop for people 536 00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:51,920 Speaker 1: who were hyping up the dangers of communism, because if 537 00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:55,000 Speaker 1: you had a map in which the Soviet Union and 538 00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:58,760 Speaker 1: China were both bright red, that definitely made it look 539 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:01,520 Speaker 1: like there was this huge hostile presence that was about 540 00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:04,360 Speaker 1: to overshadow the rest of the world. By the latter 541 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:08,320 Speaker 1: half of the twentieth century, other projections had mostly replaced 542 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:12,000 Speaker 1: the mer Cater projection in Atlas is. The last Atlas 543 00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:14,520 Speaker 1: using the Mercater projection for a map of the world 544 00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:18,239 Speaker 1: was printed in nineteen sixty six. A number of other 545 00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:21,880 Speaker 1: projections were used in its place. One was the Winkle 546 00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:26,960 Speaker 1: triple projection made by Oswald Winkle in This is called 547 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:29,759 Speaker 1: the triple projection and that's spelled t R I p 548 00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:32,920 Speaker 1: e L because it tried to minimize three of the 549 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:36,759 Speaker 1: types of distortion that are part of map projections, those 550 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:41,759 Speaker 1: three being area, direction and distance. National Geographic has used 551 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:46,080 Speaker 1: the Winkle triple projection a lot. In nineteen sixty three, 552 00:34:46,160 --> 00:34:50,320 Speaker 1: the Robinson projection, made by Arthur H. Robinson, was focused 553 00:34:50,360 --> 00:34:53,320 Speaker 1: more on retaining the look of all the land masses 554 00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:57,160 Speaker 1: in relation to one another, rather than trying to accurately 555 00:34:57,239 --> 00:35:02,560 Speaker 1: preserve any specific measurement like distance or area. So most 556 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:07,320 Speaker 1: map projections involved making choices of which measurements to preserve 557 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:10,480 Speaker 1: and which aspects to distort to make up for preserving 558 00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:14,400 Speaker 1: those other elements, but the Robinson projection was more generally 559 00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:17,080 Speaker 1: trying to make a map that looked right. In the 560 00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:21,719 Speaker 1: nineteen seventies, historian Arno Peter started promoting a projection that 561 00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:24,600 Speaker 1: he called the Peters projection, which is known as the 562 00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:28,160 Speaker 1: Gall Peters projection because it is identical to an eighteen 563 00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:32,360 Speaker 1: fifty five projection by James Gall. This is an equal 564 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:36,640 Speaker 1: area projection. It preserves the area of the landmasses while 565 00:35:36,719 --> 00:35:41,759 Speaker 1: distorting things like shape and distance to compensate. Peters proposed 566 00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:45,200 Speaker 1: this as an alternative to Mercater, one that he argued 567 00:35:45,239 --> 00:35:48,600 Speaker 1: with superior because it preserved the relative area of all 568 00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:52,160 Speaker 1: of the different countries, rather than exaggerating the size of 569 00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:55,759 Speaker 1: some countries as compared to others. There's the thing, though, 570 00:35:55,800 --> 00:35:59,040 Speaker 1: by the time Peters made this argument, Mercater projections were 571 00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:02,040 Speaker 1: no longer being printed in Atlas IS, and there were 572 00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:06,880 Speaker 1: already multiple other projections to choose from. That we're less 573 00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:11,080 Speaker 1: visually distorted than the Mercader projection is, and the Gall 574 00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:14,719 Speaker 1: Peters projection that he was promoting as an alternative that's 575 00:36:14,760 --> 00:36:19,759 Speaker 1: extremely distorted. Also, So while the Mercader projection makes things 576 00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:22,799 Speaker 1: bigger the farther they are from the equator, the Gall 577 00:36:22,840 --> 00:36:28,120 Speaker 1: Peters projection sort of just elongates everything. It looks weirdly 578 00:36:28,239 --> 00:36:31,279 Speaker 1: stretched out. So it makes sense to use the Gall 579 00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:34,960 Speaker 1: Peters projection as a counterpoint to the Mercader projection to 580 00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:39,520 Speaker 1: like illustrate how different projections distort things differently, and how 581 00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:44,160 Speaker 1: those distortions can have social and political implications. But if 582 00:36:44,160 --> 00:36:47,919 Speaker 1: your goal is to teach kids what the planet looks like, uh, 583 00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:50,680 Speaker 1: and how various nations and regions are situated in relation 584 00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:52,879 Speaker 1: to one another, it is still not a great map. 585 00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:57,480 Speaker 1: But Peter's got a lot of attention when he made 586 00:36:57,520 --> 00:37:00,360 Speaker 1: this argument in the seventies and today in number of 587 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:03,600 Speaker 1: social organizations whose work is focused on the global South 588 00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:08,760 Speaker 1: use it and since seen Boston public schools. For some reason. 589 00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:12,960 Speaker 1: The idea of using gol Peters instead of Mercator was 590 00:37:13,040 --> 00:37:15,719 Speaker 1: also even on an episode of the political drama The 591 00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:19,480 Speaker 1: West Wing. Yeah. Um, I have not watched that show, 592 00:37:19,560 --> 00:37:21,879 Speaker 1: and no one needs to tell me that I need 593 00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:25,640 Speaker 1: to go watch it. Really, It's it's okay, but I've 594 00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:29,680 Speaker 1: watched that scene. And in addition to sort of I 595 00:37:29,719 --> 00:37:31,640 Speaker 1: mean like we should use the gall Peters protection, they 596 00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:34,840 Speaker 1: also turn it so that South is up uh, And 597 00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:37,239 Speaker 1: one of the characters is like, that's freaking me out. 598 00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:40,520 Speaker 1: Um it does? It does? It looks very strange to 599 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:46,359 Speaker 1: have a south pointing up Golpeters projection. Um. There are 600 00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:50,680 Speaker 1: also still new map projections being developed, including one that 601 00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:53,960 Speaker 1: was announced just in one which I think is pretty cool. 602 00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:57,920 Speaker 1: This was developed by j. Richard Got, Robert Vanderby, and 603 00:37:58,040 --> 00:38:00,720 Speaker 1: David Goldberg, and it is a double aid a disc 604 00:38:00,920 --> 00:38:02,839 Speaker 1: or you could just put the two discs side by side. 605 00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:06,200 Speaker 1: I guess. Uh. The northern hemisphere is on one, the 606 00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:09,680 Speaker 1: southern hemisphere is on the other. Goldberg and Got had 607 00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:14,560 Speaker 1: previously developed a system to evaluate how much different map 608 00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:19,279 Speaker 1: projections distorted the globe, and they rated six factors which 609 00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:26,120 Speaker 1: were local shapes, areas, distances, flection or bending, skewness or lopsidedness, 610 00:38:26,239 --> 00:38:30,760 Speaker 1: and boundary cuts or continuity gaps. And this rating system 611 00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:34,880 Speaker 1: that they made lower scores are better. So the Winkle 612 00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:37,719 Speaker 1: triple that we talked about that tried to specifically minimize 613 00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:40,680 Speaker 1: three types of distortion, that scored a four point five 614 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:45,359 Speaker 1: six three. The Mercader projection is almost double that at 615 00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:49,200 Speaker 1: eight point to nine six. Uh. If they said what 616 00:38:49,239 --> 00:38:51,319 Speaker 1: the gall Peters was, I didn't find it. But this 617 00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:55,600 Speaker 1: new map is zero point eight eight one, so we 618 00:38:55,840 --> 00:38:58,480 Speaker 1: less distortion. It's a little interesting to look at it 619 00:38:58,560 --> 00:39:01,919 Speaker 1: because it does have like one hemisphere on one disc 620 00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:04,040 Speaker 1: and one on the other disc, which, if you're expecting 621 00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:05,520 Speaker 1: to see the whole map in one place, is a 622 00:39:05,560 --> 00:39:08,680 Speaker 1: little unusual, but it's a cool thing to look at 623 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:13,080 Speaker 1: in my opinion. Do you also have a little bit 624 00:39:13,120 --> 00:39:16,359 Speaker 1: of listener mail to cap off this this map fun? 625 00:39:17,400 --> 00:39:19,839 Speaker 1: I sure do I have this listener mail? It is 626 00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:24,160 Speaker 1: from Danny. Danny wrote, First off, I had an amazing 627 00:39:24,200 --> 00:39:26,560 Speaker 1: time in Italy with y'all. Thank you so much for 628 00:39:26,600 --> 00:39:29,360 Speaker 1: being such gracious hosts. I'm clearly behind on my listening, 629 00:39:29,360 --> 00:39:31,560 Speaker 1: but I finally got to the Rabies episode and it 630 00:39:31,600 --> 00:39:34,680 Speaker 1: brought back memories. My very first patient ever in the 631 00:39:34,719 --> 00:39:37,640 Speaker 1: e R was a Raby's Exposure who was out running 632 00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:40,839 Speaker 1: and possibly bitten by bats because he noted in the podcast, 633 00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:45,399 Speaker 1: Raby's immune globulin dosing isn't huge needles being jabbed into 634 00:39:45,440 --> 00:39:47,600 Speaker 1: your abdomen, but it's still a decent amount of shots. 635 00:39:47,640 --> 00:39:49,680 Speaker 1: It's a weight based amount, but it's still a fair 636 00:39:49,719 --> 00:39:54,279 Speaker 1: amount of injections, and the immune got globulin can't be 637 00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:57,840 Speaker 1: in the same muscle as the injection. It took me 638 00:39:57,840 --> 00:40:00,960 Speaker 1: in a pharmacist forever to map out injection sites for 639 00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:03,360 Speaker 1: this poor patient. Since then, I've yet to give the 640 00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:07,160 Speaker 1: immune globulin again, but I gave tons of RABY shots. 641 00:40:07,200 --> 00:40:09,919 Speaker 1: To this day, I'm so grateful that it and many 642 00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:13,719 Speaker 1: other kinds of vaccines exist. Thank you for all you 643 00:40:13,760 --> 00:40:16,719 Speaker 1: do to bring order to the history cows and then 644 00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:20,000 Speaker 1: in parentheses chaos. I'm going to explain that inside joke 645 00:40:20,040 --> 00:40:24,960 Speaker 1: in a minute. That was from Danny. So yes, Danny, 646 00:40:25,040 --> 00:40:27,440 Speaker 1: thank you so much for this note. Thank you for 647 00:40:27,480 --> 00:40:30,319 Speaker 1: coming to Italy with us. We did finally take our 648 00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:36,120 Speaker 1: trip to Italy. Um Danny, the woman who gets things done, 649 00:40:36,239 --> 00:40:41,520 Speaker 1: that's what I call her now. Yes, uh, Um, we 650 00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:44,239 Speaker 1: we did take our trip to Italy. Holly and I 651 00:40:44,360 --> 00:40:48,120 Speaker 1: both had some apprehensions about taking the trip while the 652 00:40:48,160 --> 00:40:51,560 Speaker 1: pandemic is still going on, but we did it. We 653 00:40:51,680 --> 00:40:55,120 Speaker 1: made it. We all tried to be as safe as possible. Uh. 654 00:40:55,200 --> 00:40:57,799 Speaker 1: And all of the hiccups that we had were unrelated 655 00:40:57,840 --> 00:41:04,320 Speaker 1: to COVID. Almost everyone had their flights canceled, though because 656 00:41:05,080 --> 00:41:08,319 Speaker 1: and Danny was on our flight out of Florence, so 657 00:41:08,360 --> 00:41:11,480 Speaker 1: she didn't have her first one canceled, but she had 658 00:41:11,520 --> 00:41:13,719 Speaker 1: some problems down the road. It was a little bit 659 00:41:13,760 --> 00:41:17,279 Speaker 1: of a wild time. Yeah. I felt guilty because I 660 00:41:17,320 --> 00:41:19,560 Speaker 1: think we were the only ones that made it home smoothly. 661 00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:22,120 Speaker 1: Brian and I. Yeah, there was a there was a 662 00:41:22,160 --> 00:41:24,680 Speaker 1: transit strike in Italy on the day that most people 663 00:41:24,719 --> 00:41:27,560 Speaker 1: were leaving, and a lot of people's flights were messed 664 00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:31,239 Speaker 1: up as a result. I was staying a few days 665 00:41:31,320 --> 00:41:34,799 Speaker 1: later to see Venice before we went home, so I 666 00:41:34,840 --> 00:41:38,040 Speaker 1: did not have that effect either. But I did want to. 667 00:41:38,080 --> 00:41:41,360 Speaker 1: I wanted to read this number one because uh great 668 00:41:41,480 --> 00:41:45,239 Speaker 1: first person experienced about Raby's immune globulin. I also just 669 00:41:45,360 --> 00:41:47,360 Speaker 1: wanted to say thank you to everybody who came to 670 00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:51,480 Speaker 1: Italy with us, because so many people were so patient 671 00:41:51,560 --> 00:41:53,919 Speaker 1: over so many years before we were able to take 672 00:41:53,960 --> 00:41:57,160 Speaker 1: that trip, Like we had two plus years of postponements 673 00:41:57,200 --> 00:41:58,799 Speaker 1: on the trip before we were able to take it 674 00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:02,160 Speaker 1: um and everyone was so gracious and so lovely, and 675 00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:05,000 Speaker 1: we had a really good time, and one of the 676 00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:09,040 Speaker 1: most magical things I have ever experienced happened, which is 677 00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:12,080 Speaker 1: the reference at the end of this about the history cows. 678 00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:16,160 Speaker 1: So if you go to the Vatican City museums and 679 00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:18,600 Speaker 1: to see the Sistine Chapel, you're not supposed to talk 680 00:42:18,680 --> 00:42:21,680 Speaker 1: in the Sistine Chapel. So the tour guide a lot 681 00:42:21,719 --> 00:42:23,600 Speaker 1: of time will tell you, like what you're going to 682 00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:25,680 Speaker 1: see in the Sistine Chapel before you get in there. 683 00:42:26,920 --> 00:42:30,960 Speaker 1: And so, as our Italian tour guide was explaining what 684 00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:33,879 Speaker 1: we were going to see in the Sistine Chapel, she said, 685 00:42:33,920 --> 00:42:38,080 Speaker 1: in the beginning, it was only cows, and God had 686 00:42:38,120 --> 00:42:40,520 Speaker 1: to separate the cows into the light and the dark. 687 00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:42,520 Speaker 1: And I had this moment where I was like, what 688 00:42:42,880 --> 00:42:48,520 Speaker 1: is happening? Did Terry Pratchett right this presentation? Yeah, I 689 00:42:48,640 --> 00:42:52,360 Speaker 1: don't remember cows from Sunday School? And then I realized 690 00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:56,479 Speaker 1: that she was saying chaos. And it was just one 691 00:42:56,640 --> 00:43:00,720 Speaker 1: of the most unexpected and beautiful and wonder full moments 692 00:43:00,880 --> 00:43:04,920 Speaker 1: in like language barrier that I have ever experienced. I 693 00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:08,000 Speaker 1: hope no one ever corrects her or makes her feel 694 00:43:08,040 --> 00:43:12,440 Speaker 1: bad about it, because it delighted me so much. And 695 00:43:12,520 --> 00:43:14,719 Speaker 1: for the whole rest of the trip, occasionally I would 696 00:43:14,760 --> 00:43:17,440 Speaker 1: just look at my spouse and go, in the beginning, 697 00:43:17,480 --> 00:43:22,160 Speaker 1: it was only cows. Uh. And then it turns out 698 00:43:22,200 --> 00:43:24,360 Speaker 1: even though you're not supposed to talk in the Sistine Chapel, 699 00:43:24,360 --> 00:43:27,759 Speaker 1: boy does everyone's talking the Sistine Chapel anyway? It was 700 00:43:27,960 --> 00:43:30,399 Speaker 1: very loud. And then the next day after we were there, 701 00:43:30,520 --> 00:43:32,680 Speaker 1: Jason Momoa went in there and sick a selfie and 702 00:43:32,680 --> 00:43:37,720 Speaker 1: got in trouble. Um. Yeah, you're not supposed to take pictures, 703 00:43:37,760 --> 00:43:39,920 Speaker 1: you're not supposed to speak, you're supposed to wear your 704 00:43:39,920 --> 00:43:43,759 Speaker 1: mask at all times. Pretty sloppy, geloppy in adherence to 705 00:43:43,800 --> 00:43:47,799 Speaker 1: those rules. Although security is trying, but like it is 706 00:43:47,880 --> 00:43:50,880 Speaker 1: literally a room full of people not abiding by the rules, 707 00:43:50,880 --> 00:43:55,640 Speaker 1: so they can't really manage it all. Yeah. I think 708 00:43:55,680 --> 00:44:00,400 Speaker 1: of all the places we went overall, um, the Vatican 709 00:44:00,440 --> 00:44:04,000 Speaker 1: City museums were like the most mask compliance, and then 710 00:44:04,080 --> 00:44:09,120 Speaker 1: my own experience personally was just progressively less mask wearing. 711 00:44:09,160 --> 00:44:11,759 Speaker 1: And so we got to Venice where it felt like 712 00:44:11,840 --> 00:44:14,880 Speaker 1: no one had a mask on and everyone was coughing, 713 00:44:14,960 --> 00:44:16,480 Speaker 1: and I was like, come on now I got to 714 00:44:16,480 --> 00:44:22,280 Speaker 1: take a COVID test to go home. So cool. Yeah. Yeah, 715 00:44:22,480 --> 00:44:24,680 Speaker 1: most of Italy, I mean, I will definitely say most 716 00:44:24,719 --> 00:44:27,560 Speaker 1: of Italy is more is still being way more careful 717 00:44:28,239 --> 00:44:30,560 Speaker 1: than most of our communities that I have visited in 718 00:44:30,600 --> 00:44:34,640 Speaker 1: the US in recent times, which was nice and made 719 00:44:34,680 --> 00:44:37,040 Speaker 1: me feel a lot better about being able to get home. 720 00:44:37,080 --> 00:44:40,359 Speaker 1: But yes, there were definitely some Yeah, and I would 721 00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:42,839 Speaker 1: say our group, our group was a careful group we had. 722 00:44:44,280 --> 00:44:47,799 Speaker 1: The eating indoors was the rare exception for me. Most 723 00:44:47,840 --> 00:44:52,879 Speaker 1: of my meals were outside, masks on inside, and did 724 00:44:52,920 --> 00:44:56,200 Speaker 1: everything we could to make it a a safe trip 725 00:44:56,239 --> 00:44:59,880 Speaker 1: for everybody, which I think mostly worked out. Knock on woods. 726 00:45:00,080 --> 00:45:03,640 Speaker 1: So thank you again everybody who wents Italy with us 727 00:45:04,239 --> 00:45:08,000 Speaker 1: and for bearing with us for two plus years of 728 00:45:08,040 --> 00:45:10,680 Speaker 1: postponent I know not everybody was able to make the 729 00:45:10,719 --> 00:45:13,520 Speaker 1: final date that the that we were able to go, 730 00:45:13,680 --> 00:45:15,839 Speaker 1: but UM, I'm glad we were finally able to take 731 00:45:15,840 --> 00:45:18,400 Speaker 1: the trip. We are hoping to have other trips in 732 00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:21,080 Speaker 1: the future. We as of this moment that I'm talking 733 00:45:21,120 --> 00:45:23,799 Speaker 1: into this microphone, we have not actively started planning one, 734 00:45:23,880 --> 00:45:26,279 Speaker 1: but we do hope to have other trips. We have 735 00:45:26,400 --> 00:45:30,040 Speaker 1: kicked some ideas around, but nothing is nothing is congealing 736 00:45:30,120 --> 00:45:34,399 Speaker 1: yet and again with the hope that the that the 737 00:45:34,440 --> 00:45:41,280 Speaker 1: pandemic slowly moves towards being under control, it does feel 738 00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:46,759 Speaker 1: continuing to be chaotic. Obviously, we had a whole other 739 00:45:46,800 --> 00:45:51,400 Speaker 1: conversation of can we actually take this trip uh back 740 00:45:51,400 --> 00:45:54,479 Speaker 1: in the earlier spring before ultimately deciding to take the trip. 741 00:45:54,560 --> 00:45:58,520 Speaker 1: So thanks to everybody for your patients with that, UM, 742 00:45:58,520 --> 00:46:00,239 Speaker 1: Sorry to the folks who did want to them with 743 00:46:00,320 --> 00:46:02,720 Speaker 1: us and weren't able to come with us for whatever reason. 744 00:46:03,080 --> 00:46:06,440 Speaker 1: Hopefully in the future more trips. If you'd like to 745 00:46:06,480 --> 00:46:08,959 Speaker 1: write to us for history podcasts that I heart radio 746 00:46:09,040 --> 00:46:11,879 Speaker 1: dot com. We're all over social media and missed in History. 747 00:46:11,920 --> 00:46:14,560 Speaker 1: That's where you'll find our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, in Instagram, 748 00:46:14,600 --> 00:46:17,879 Speaker 1: and you can subscribe to our show on iHeart radio 749 00:46:17,880 --> 00:46:25,839 Speaker 1: app or wherever you get your podcasts. Stuff you Missed 750 00:46:25,880 --> 00:46:28,320 Speaker 1: in History Class is a production of I heart Radio. 751 00:46:28,680 --> 00:46:31,520 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart 752 00:46:31,600 --> 00:46:34,680 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 753 00:46:34,680 --> 00:46:35,400 Speaker 1: favorite shows.