Map and Compass - Appendix

SARBC

Search and Rescue Society of British Columbia

For a graphical look at some of these projections, click here.

Name of Projection        Century  Inventer            Family      Characteristics                         Principal Uses    
                                                                                                                          

Gnomonic                  5th B.C. Thales?             Azimuthal   Straight great circles; limited area    Astronomy; later, 
                                                                                                              route plotting.         

Orthographic              2nd B.C. Hipparchus?         Azimuthal   Hemisphere-viewed from infinity         Astronomy; later, 
                                                                                                              earth illustrations.    

Stereographic             2nd B.C. Hipparchus?         Azimuthal   Conformal, circles project circles      Astronomy; later, 
                                                                                                              air navigation.         

Marinus                   A.D. 1st Marinus of Tyre     Cylindrical Straight line meridians & parallels     Early maps of the 
                                                                                                              known world/regions.    

Ptolemy                   2nd      C. Ptolemy          Conic       Straight meridians, curved parallels    Early maps of the
                                                                                                              known world/regions.    

Mercator                  16th     G. Mercator         Cylindrical Straight loxodromes; conformal          Navigational charts
                                                                                                              world maps.  

Two standard              16th     G. Mercator         Conic       Less deformation than simple conic      Continents, countries
                                                                                                              regions.                

Sinusoidal                17th     N. Sanson           Misc        Equivalent; meridians -sine curves      World distributions;
                                                                                                              atlas maps.             

Conic Conformal           18th     J.H. Lambert        Conic       Conformal, two standard parallels       Mid-latitude maps,  
                                                                                                              air navigation.         

Azimuthal Equal Area      18th     J.H. Lambert        Azimuthal   Equivalent, directions true from point  Hemisphere, polar and
                                                                                                              air line maps.          

Transverse Mercator       18th     J.H. Lambert        Cylindrical Conformal; central meridian true        Topo maps, 
                                                                                                              illustrating air routes.

Bonne                     18th     R. Bonne            Misc        Equivalent; two standard parallels      Mid-latitude maps
                                                                                                              e.g. U.S.A.             

Albers                    19th     H.C. Albers         Conic       Parallels true to scale -standard       Topo maps, continents
                                                                                                              e.g. Europe             

Mollweide                 19th     K.B. Mollweide      Misc        Equivalent; elliptical meridians        World distributions
                                                                                                              atlas maps.             

Polyconic                 19th     F.Hassler           Misc        Parallels non-concentric, standard      Topo maps, modified
                                                                                                              air charts.             

Goode                     20th     J.P. Goode          Misc        Composite projection; interrupted       World distributions
                                                                                                              atlas maps.             

Miller Cylindrical        20th     O.M. Miller         Cylindrical Minimizes shape, size deformation       World distributions
                                                                                                              atlas maps.             

Fuller Dymaxion           20th     R.B. Fuller         Misc        Great circle bounded icosahedron        Illustrating global
                                                                                                              relationships.          

The following are selected from a much larger number of terms for special forms of the isogram. They are presented in chronological order according to their assumed first cartographic use. The contemporary terms, as listed, were not in every instant applied for their earliest cartographic usage. Each definition should be preceded by the words, "line along which..." and followed by "... is, or is assumed to be, the same or constant."

Isobath                   depth below a datum (eg. mean sea level)                   Isopectic           time of ice formation
                                                                           
Isogonic line             magnetic declination                                       Isotac              time of thawing                                     
                                                                           
Isocline                  magnetic dip (inclination) or angle of slope               Isobase             vertical earth movement
                                                                           
Isohypse (contour)        elevation above a datum (eg. mean sea level)               Isohemeric line     minimum time of (freight) transportation
                                                                           
Isodynamic line           value of intensity or a component of the intensity         Isohel             average duration of sunshine in a specified time
                          of the magnetic field                              
                                                                                     Isodopane            cost of travel time
Isotherm                  temperature (usually average)                         
                                                                                     Isotim              the price for certain goods
Isobar                    atmospheric pressure (usually average)                
                                                                                     Isoanabase          landraising
Isohyet                   precipitation                                         
                                                                                     Isophort            freight rates on land
Isobront                  occurrence of thunderstorms                           
                                                                                     Isonau              freight rates at sea
Isanther                  time of flowering of plants                           
                                                                                     Isomist             wages
Isopag                    duration of ice cover                                 
                                                                                     Isothym             intensity of evaporation
Isodem                    population                                                 Isoceph             cranial indices

Isoamplitude              amplitude of variation (often of annual temperature)       Isochalaz           frequency of hail storms
                                                                           
Isoseismal line           number (or intensity) of earthquake tremors                Isogene             density of a genus
                                                                           
Isochasm                  annual frequency of aurorae                                Isospecie           density of a species
                                                                           
Isophot                   intensity of light on a surface                            Isodym              economic attraction
                                                                           
Isoneph                   degree of cloudiness (often average)                       Isohydrodynam       potential water power
                                                                           
Isochrone                 travel time from a given point                             Isobenth            amount of zoo-benthos/unit area at given depths

Isophene                  date of beginning of a plant species entering a       
                          certain phenological phase                                 Isonoet             equal average degree of intelligence