Listen "23: Mapping the World"
Episode Synopsis
Creating a map of the world is hard, very hard. It took the best minds in the world centuries to get it right. From the disfigured maps of the Greeks to the elegant portolan charts of the Renaissance, people have been mapping the world for a long time. The main problem was with longitude, a puzzle that was not figured out until Harrison invented a chronometer that could keep track of time while moving (like in a ship). It was easy enough to figure out how far north or south you were, but east and west was an entirely different thing. Yet, the portolan charts were longitudinally accurate, and nobody knows how. Map making in an artform, and some of the secrets have been lost to us.
More episodes of the podcast Equinox
74: The Science of Christmas
10/12/2021
73: 2021 IgNobel Prizes
24/11/2021
72: A Hot Cup of Joe
10/11/2021
71: 2021 Nobel Prizes
29/10/2021
70: What’s a Computer? Part 2
13/10/2021
69: What’s a Computer? Part I
29/09/2021
68: Pants on Fire
23/09/2021
67: The Dark Side
11/09/2021
66: ‘Apollo 11’ Film Review
03/09/2021
65: Biblical Genetics
20/08/2021
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.