by John Krygier (
http://makingmaps.net/2007/09/19/making-flat-earth-globes/)
What if the world was spherical, but it didn’t matter?
Most of you have been unable to avoid the flat-earth kerfuffle on the day-time talk show The View.
On a recent episode one of the hosts, Sherri Shepherd, said she doesn’t believe the theory of evolution. Whoopi Goldberg, also a host, asked Shepherd “Is the world flat?”
Shepherd’s response was “…I Don’t know. I… I never thought about it, Whoopi. Is the world flat? I never thought about it.”
Most maps show the earth as flat. Map projection is the process whereby the surface of the 3D earth is transformed into 2 dimensions. A flat earth is usually more useful than a spherical one.
A while back I made a flat-earth globe for folks like Ms. Shepherd. It is a globe designed for niche cosmologies.
More images and basic instructions for making your own flat-earth globe below.
I am assuming Ms. Shepherd favors a rather literal interpretation of the all-time best selling Bible (the Christian one). The Bible is largely silent on the flat/spherical earth debate, besides a reference to “the circle of the earth” (Isaiah 40:22) – which rather suggests a 2D earth. So be it.
I believe there is a market for the flat-earth globe, and am certainly willing to entertain proposals for licensing this innovative flat orb.
To make a flat-earth globe:
1. Create an azimuthal equidistant map projection centered on the north pole. A bit of color and a few place names were added to mine, but you don’t need to do this. I printed the globe on a large format ink-jet printer at 1500dpi, but a smaller low-resolution ink jet print would work too. You can use the great free software package GProjector to create the azimuthal equidistant projection. For Projection: select azimuthal equidistant; for the Overlay: one of the Earth outlines that comes with the software, set the Lat to 90° N and the Radius: to 180°.
2. Visit a well-stocked craft store. They usually have thin pressed-wood circles of different sizes for less than $5. Select a wood circle that fits the diameter of your flat-earth globe.
3. Carefully trim the circular flat-earth globe with a sharp blade, using the wood circle as a guide.
4. Glue your flat-earth globe to the wood circle.
5. Craft a stand: I found an old globe at a yard sale and removed it from its stand. I then drilled two holes in the side of my flat-earth-globe and fitted it to the stand. My globe was printed 12 inches wide to fit the stand for a 12 inch globe.
That’s it!
