Ptolemy’s ancient work was rediscovered, and new maps were drawn based on his thousand-year-old calculations. Indeed, Christopher Columbus’ voyage to America was partly due to Ptolemy—and ...

A map created by Greek astronomer and cartographer Claudius Ptolemy, from around 140 A.D., is considered to be the oldest surviving representation of Ireland. Included among his treatise ...

The ancient Greek astronomer and geographer Ptolemy of Alexandria drew a map of the world in 140AD, which shows the stone fort, Grianan Aileach, as one of only five Irish sites to be noted in Ireland.

Explore the Sunderland Collection’s stunning maps and atlases, spanning European mapmakers from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment. Historical maps, like this world map from the Portolan Atlas ...

The Mercator Projection, Ptolemy’s ‘Geographia’, the Fra Mauro Map, and even Google Maps have all shaped how we experience the world around us.

A 2nd century map of Germania by the scholar Ptolemy has always stumped scholars, who were unable to relate the places depicted to known settlements. Now a team of researchers have cracked the ...

An image of the map has been given to People's Collection Wales, external and Wikimedia Commons, external. Ptolemy was a Greek-Roman astronomer and geographer who established the use of longitude ...

Humans have made maps for untold thousands of years. They’re among the oldest modes of communication, predating written language. But, as cartographer Norman Thrower writes in Maps and Civilization: ...

Ptolemy, who was born in 100 CE, ... was known that Ptolemy had invented and written on such a scientific instrument because he mentioned it in his book on map making,” he added.

From Ptolemy to GPS, the Brief History of Maps We now have the whole world in our hands, but how did we get here? Clive Thompson . July 2017. Get our newsletter! Get our newsletter!