Gerardus Mercator

Hello! My name is Gerardus Mercator. A long, long time ago, in the year 1512, I was born. I loved to look at our big, wonderful world. It is so beautiful! I liked to draw pictures of the world. My pictures showed the land and the oceans. These special pictures are called maps. I wanted to make the very best maps so everyone could see our world.

Our world is round, like a big ball. But my paper for drawing was flat. That was tricky! When I tried to draw the round world on my flat paper, the countries looked all squished and funny. So, I thought and thought and had a special idea. I drew the world using straight lines. This new map was a big help for sailors on their ships. My straight lines helped them sail across the huge ocean and not get lost.

I loved making maps. I made lots and lots of them! I drew maps of so many different places. I decided to put all my maps together into one big book. I needed a special name for my book of maps. I called it an 'atlas.' People loved that name. Even today, when you see a big book full of maps, it is called an atlas!

I lived a very long and happy life making my maps. I lived to be 82 years old. My ideas are still helping people today. They help us see and understand our amazing world. Every time you look at a map, you are seeing a little bit of my work and my big idea.