Читать книгу Geography For Dummies - Jerry T. Mitchell - Страница 76

Many maps are honest. But before I point some of them out to you, let me re-emphasize that flat map untruthfulness is related to Earth’s curvature. Obviously, big portions of Earth involve more curvature than small portions.

A flat map of the entire world is going to lie a lot because so much curvature is involved. In contrast, a flat map of the United States has the potential of being more truthful (strictly geographically speaking) because the area of the United States has less curvature than the entire world. A flat map of the town or area in which you live — well, now we’re talking little fibs as opposed to big lies because your local surroundings do not have that much of Earth’s curved surface. And if we’re talking about a map of your backyard that could be an absolutely honest map because Earth’s curvature over such a small space is virtually nil.

So, yes there are honest maps, but only ones that involve relatively small portions of Earth’s surface. Geography, however, involves study of the whole Earth or portions of it that typically are bigger than your backyard. That means curvature is involved and therefore the likelihood of dealing with dishonest maps.