Mercator Nautical Chart System

Timeline

1. 1569Duisburg · Holy Roman EmpireIn 1569 Gerardus Mercator published in Duisburg Nova et Aucta Orbis Terrae Descriptio, composed of 18 copper plates, first applying the conformal cylindrical projection to a global sea chart so that rhumb lines appeared as straight lines, solving the core geometric problem of ocean compass navigation.
2. 1599–1650Amsterdam · NetherlandsEnglish mathematician Edward Wright published Certaine Errors in Navigation in 1599, giving a rigorous mathematical proof of the Mercator projection that made precise printing possible. Dutch cartographer Willem Blaeu then published a series of precise Mercator chart atlases, adopted on VOC and English East India Company routes, making the Mercator system the international standard navigation tool for European ocean voyaging in the early 17th century.