From Stars to a Map. Pioneers of cartography - from the old ages to Mercator

Abstract

Determining the coordinates of an arbitrary position anywhere on the Earth’s surface was a utopia of many astronomers, geographers and cartographers for centuries. This journey, up to the present day, the century of satellite navigation, which brings results of meter accuracy, was long and difficult, accompanied by speculation, delusions and ingenious inventions. Cartographers played undoubtedly significant role in that area. Essential works of pioneers of cartography from the old ages to Mercator are presented in this paper. With his proposal of conformal cylindrical projection, Mercator left as heritage a work on which all navigation (maritime and aerial) maps and state coordinate systems of numerous European and non-European countries are based on.