A globe is an exact, but millions of times smaller copy of our planet. Without this model, it is very difficult to imagine such a science as geography. The globe was “invented” back in the 15th century, but even today it is actively used in various areas of human life.
What is a globe?
It should be recognized that the first cartographic image of the Earth's surface was a map. Rather, it was a drawing of the terrain, drawn on the wall of the cave. Globes appeared much later when a person realized the scale of our planet and found out that it has a spherical shape.
What is a globe? What are the main properties of this method of imaging the earth's surface?
The answer to the question "what is a globe" should be known to every student. Translated from Latin, the word globus means "ball". Thus, the globe is a cartographic method of depicting the earth’s surface, in which the geometric shape of our planet, as well as all the lines, areas and contours of the depicted objects, are preserved. The only clarification: all this is reduced by a million times.
Compared with the geographical map on the globe, all distortions of the earth's surface are minimal. The continents, oceans, seas and islands on it fully correspond to their location on the globe. A degree grid consisting of meridian lines and parallels helps to accurately apply all geographical objects to the globe .
Globe Properties and Usage
The main properties of the globe include the following:
- sphericity of the Earth is preserved;
- mutual arrangement of poles, parallels and meridians is preserved;
- the scale is the same in all parts of the model;
- the shapes of all the figures on the earth's surface are not distorted.
Throughout the XVII-XVIII centuries, globes were actively used by sailors, travelers and discoverers. Now they are used exclusively in scientific and educational (much more often) activities. A school globe is an essential attribute of any geography cabinet.
Globe history
The oldest globe that has survived to this day dates back to 1492. It was created by Martin Beheim , a German scientist and traveler. As a basis, he took the data of Ptolemy and Toscanelli. The Behheim globe is stored in a museum in Nuremberg. Since America was not yet open at that time, in its place Behheim depicted the eastern tip of Asia, as well as many non-existent islands.
However, the very first globe, according to written ancient references, was made 1700 years ago. Its author was a student of Aristotle - the ancient Greek thinker Krates. He created a spherical model of the Earth, which, however, did not reach our days. But other ancient philosophers describe that it depicted a continuous land divided into four parts by two rivers crossing perpendicularly.
Varieties of globes
In terms of content, globes can be general geographical (classical) or thematic (the latter arose in the 20th century). Globes are distinguished by the size of the ball:
- small (up to 60 cm in diameter);
- medium (from 60 to 120 cm);
- large (over 120 cm in diameter).
In addition to the earthly ones, there are also globes of other celestial bodies of the solar system (Moon, Mars, Mercury, etc.), as well as the starry sky. Spherical models of our planet can also be made of different materials. It can be plastic, paper, glass or stone.
Conclusion
So what is a globe? Now you can easily answer this question. This is a model of the Earth, which exactly repeats its shape, without distorting the area and contours of objects on all parts of the surface. It is believed that the very first globe was created by the German scientist Martin Beheim in 1492. However, the earliest mention of such devices dates back to the third century BC.