Blog Post #11

     Today we attempted to catch up on more notes. Back in the day maps were reference tools(simple navigation devices). The first world map was prepared by Eratosthenes (276-194BC). Improvements to the world map were later made by Ptolemy. After Ptolemy, advancements were made by Europe and Muslims. The map shifted from being a tool that provides location to a tool used by geographers to communicate complex geographic phenomena. Map scale is the level of detail and amount of area. A map scale is presented in 3 ways: ratio scale, written scale, and fraction scale. Scientific method of transferring locations on Earth's surface to a flat map is called projection. Shape and area, distance, relative size, and direction can all be distorted. Meridians are drawn between the north and south poles. Values range from 0 degrees (prime meridian) to 180 degrees east or west longitude. There were more notes we took, but I didn't get them all.