Maps have been made for thousands of years as a means to convey information about the surface of the Earth. Some maps are highly complex, organized data sets that have been assembled by cartographers, mathematicians, or geographers who wish to illustrate the lay of the land. Maps are able to provide tremendous amounts of information on a two-dimensional surface.

The History of Mapmaking

The first attempt to establish a grid system on Earth was in 150 C.E. by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy. He established the concept of imaginary lines that intersected at regular intervals, making it possible to locate a particular position from reference points on a grid.

Using information from his astronomical predecessors, Ptolemy established latitude as imaginary parallel lines, equally spaced, that circled the world in a horizontal plane. The zero degree parallel was the equator. He chose this parallel as zero...