Hobo-Dyer Equal Area Projection [North at top]
- Title:
- Hobo-Dyer Equal Area Projection [North at top]
- Alternate Title:
- Hobo-Dyer Equal Area Projection [North at top]
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- ODT, Inc.
- Date:
- 2007
- Posted Date:
- 2017-04-14
- ID Number:
- 1406.01
- File Name:
- PJM_1406_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1960 - Present
- Subject:
- Unusual Projection
Ethnocentrism - Measurement:
- 21 x 42 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- This map employs an "equal-area" projection, showing the world in a way unlike others, particularly the well-know projection first used by Mercator in his world map of 1569. The Mercator projection is the only one in which the shortest distance between two points plots as a straight line on a flat piece of paper. For this reason, it has always been pervasive in the world of navigation, and over the centuries it became common in maps of all kinds. The Mercator projection also has a well-known flaw: it artificially enlarges the sizes of areas according to their distance from the equator: Africa, for example, appears roughly the the same size as Greenland although it is in fact some 14 times larger. Politically, the United States and Europe appear larger than they are relative to Central America and central Africa.
In 1973, a German named Arno Peters - variously described as a journalist, filmmaker, historian and mathematician - announced a "new" projection at a press conference with some 350 television and print attendees. Kretschmer 2015, 1099. Peters made no secret of his cartographic political agenda: "Mercator presents a fully false picture, particularly regarding the non–white-peopled lands . . . it over-values and distorts the picture of the world to the advantage of the colonial masters of the time." Quoted in Crampton 2003, 55. His new projection was adopted by a number of social organizations with global interests, including UNICEF, the United Nations Development Programme, the Brandt Commission on International Development, Oxfam, and the World Council of Churches. Peters was defended by some progressive historians of cartography for having "pointed out . . . that the use of most other projections had a powerful built-in bias." Wood 1992, 59.
On the other hand, equal-area projections greatly distort the shape of the continents. Sriskandarajah 2003, 240-41. For that and other reasons, Peters and his projection have been subject to extensive criticism for more than 30 years, much of it from professionals in the field. In part, these practitioners were offended that Peters either didn't know - or failed to acknowledge - that his "new" projection was identical to a well-known equal-area alternative first described by James Gall, a Scottish clergyman, in 1855. Ibid. 240. But the criticism went well beyond, referring to Peters work as "crackpot," "cleverly contrived," "cunningly deceptive," "illogical and erroneous," and "worthless." Quoted ibid. 237, 240. The map itself was derided as aesthetically unattractive, "reminiscent of wet, ragged, long, winter underwear hung out to dry on the Arctic Circle." Quoted ibid. 237. Equally persistent has been the criticism of Peters' "self-serving campaign," "merchandising," "aggressive marketing," and "evangelizing," resulting in "a scam capitalizing on the cartographic ignorance of most people . . . which survives quite nicely in a climate of political correctness." Quoted ibid. 240, 241. Because "Peters knew how to work the crowd" and "journalists also like to champion the oppressed," academics were "puzzled that . . . prominent, respected institutions could be so gullible and ignorant, and enraged that these groups . . . persistently repeated Peters's preposterous assertions." Monmonier 1991, 97-98. See also Robinson 1985. It's been suggested that UNESCO adopted the Peters projection through the influence of African diplomats in the organization, and the World Council of Churches because its missionary activity was concentrated in Africa and Latin America. Ibid. 99.
Today, the Peters Projection controversy seems to have cooled. Many world maps are based on compromise projections that try to strike a balance among a variety of factors, principally area and shape, such as the Winkel-Tripel projection used by the National Geographic Society. The map here, the ODT Hobo-Dyer Projection, closely resembles the Peters, but the creators say that it "offers less elongation that the Peters map but more compression at the poles." http://odtmaps.com/detail.asp?product_id=HDP-11x17, accessed August 17, 2016.
The verso of this map, ID #1407.01, makes a different point about perspective: it shows the world on the same Hope-Dyer equal-area projection, but with South at the top.
For further information on the Collector’s Notes and a Feedback/Contact Link, see https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/about-collection-personal-statement and https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/feedback-and-contact - Repository:
- Private Collection of PJ Mode
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.