What is Gerardus Mercator?
[[File:mercator.jpg|thumb|Gerardus Mercator]] [[File:Mercator 1569.png|thumb|Mercator world map by Gerardus Mercator, ''Nova et Aucta Orbis Terrae Descriptio ad Usum Navigatium Emendate'' (1569)]] '''Gerardus Mercator''', also called '''Gerhard Kremer''', and born Gérard de Crémère (1512 &ndash; 1594), was a [[Flemish people|Flemish]] [[geographer]] and [[mathematician]] from [[Belgium]]. He explored [[Flanders]] and made globes about the earth and the sky. He became one of the best mapmakers of the 16th century. The [[Mercator projection]] that has his name is a flat [[map projection]] of the features of the surface of the earth that can be seen and made only mathematically. It was found to be excellent for [[navigating]] on oceans and is still used today. In 1585 he began a great [[atlas]] that was later finished by his son. His last years he used for studying [[theology]]. Mercator was born in [[Rupelmonde]] and died in [[Duisburg]]. == Other websites == * [http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/ttpbooks.html Turn the pages of the British Library's Mercator Atlas of Europe (c.1570)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100624031653/http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/ttpbooks.html |date=2010-06-24 }} * [http://www.walkingtree.com/ Mercator's Atlas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071123120133/http://www.walkingtree.com/ |date=2007-11-23 }} * {{MacTutor Biography|id=Mercator_Gerardus}} {{bio-stub}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Mercator, Gerardus}} [[Category:1512 births]] [[Category:1594 deaths]] [[Category:Belgian mathematicians]] [[Category:Flemish people]] [[Category:European geographers]] [[Category:People from East Flanders]]