Globe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A globe is a three-dimensional scale model of Earth (terrestrial globe) or other spheroid celestial body such as a planet, star, or moon. It may also (celestial globe) refer to a spherical representation of the celestial sphere, showing the apparent positions of the stars in the sky. Celestial globes omit the Sun, Moon and planets because their positions vary relative to those of the stars, but the ecliptic, along which the Sun moves, is indicated.

The word "globe" comes from the Latin word globus, meaning round mass or sphere.

[edit] General information

A globe is the only geographical representation that has negligible distortion over large areas; all flat maps are created using a map projection that inevitably introduces an increasing amount distortion the larger the area that the map shows. A typical scale for a terrestrial globe is roughly 1:40 million.

Sometimes a globe has relief, showing topography; in the case of a globe of the Earth the elevations are exaggerated, otherwise they would be hardly visible. Most modern globes are also imprinted with parallels and meridians so that one could (if only approximately due to scale) tell where a specific point on the surface of the planet is located.

Mass-produced globes are typically covered by a printed paper map. The most common type has long, thin gores (strips) of paper that narrow to a point at the North Pole and the South Pole.[1] Then a small disk is used to paper over the inevitable irregularities at the poles. The more gores there are, the less stretching and crumpling is required to make the paper map fit the sphere. From a geometric point of view, all points on a sphere are equivalent – one could select any arbitrary point on the Earth, and create a paper map that covers the Earth with strips that come together at that point and the antipodal point. However, as the Earth is an oblate spheroid and not a perfect sphere, bulging slightly at the equator, to correctly represent the true shape of the Earth using such paper strips is more difficult.

A globe is usually mounted at an angle on bearings. In addition to making it easy to use this mounting also represents the angle of the planet in relation to its sun and the spin of the planet. This makes it easy to visualize how days and seasons change.

[edit] History

The earliest known globe was constructed by the scholar Crates of Mallus in Cilicia (now Çukurova in modern-day Turkey) around 150 BC. An ancient celestial globe that still exists was made about 150 AD as part of a sculpture, called the Farnese Atlas, in the Naples Museum, Naples, Italy.^[1] The first globe of the Old World was constructed in the Muslim world during the Middle Ages.^[2] The oldest existing terrestrial globe was made by Martin Behaim in Nürnberg, Germany, in 1492.^[1] A facsimile globe showing America was made by Martin Waldseemueller in 1507.

[edit] Notable large globes

• The Unisphere in Queens, New York, at 120 feet in diameter the world's largest global structure.
• Eartha, currently the world's largest rotating globe (41 feet in diameter), at the Delorme headquarters in Yarmouth, Maine
• The Mapparium, 30 foot walk-in globe at the Christian Science complex in Boston, intended to be viewed from within.
• The Babson globe in Wellesley, Massachusetts, a 26-foot diameter globe which originally rotated on its axis and on its base to simulate day and night and the seasons
• The giant globe in the lobby of The News Building in New York City.
• The Hitler Globe, also known as the Führer globe, was formally named the Columbus Globe for State and Industry Leaders. Two editions existed during Hitler's lifetime, created during the mid-1930s on his orders. (The second edition changed the name of Abyssinia to Italian East Africa). These globes were "enormous" and very costly. According to the New York Times, "the real Columbus globe was nearly the size of a Volkswagen and, at the time, more expensive." Several still exist, including three in Berlin: one at a geographical institute, one at the Märkisches Museum, and another at the Deutsches Historisches Museum. The latter has a Soviet bullet hole through Germany. One of the two in public collections in Munich has an American bullet hole through Germany. There are several in private hands inside and out of Germany. A much smaller version of Hitler's globe was mocked by Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator, a film released in 1940.^[3]

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2003.
2. ^ Mark Silverberg. Origins of Islamic Intolerence.
3. ^ "The Mystery of Hitler’s Globe Goes Round and Round", by Michael Kimmelman, September 18, 2007. Accessed September 18, 2007.

[edit] See also

• Dymaxion map
• Johannes Schöner globe
• Armillary sphere
• Virtual globe
  • Google Earth
  • NASA World Wind

[edit] External links

• ppmglobe - generate strips to glue onto a sphere
• 3D VRML globe
• 3D Java Globe with coastlines, parallels, meridians, etc.
• Photo of a pocket terrestrial and celestial globe from the Beyer chronometrie clock and watch museum
• Paper model (net) of a globe Globe with meridians and circles of latitudes
• Globe-Museum/Austrian National Library
• Martin Waldseemueller 1507 globebg:Глобус (картография)

cs:Glóbus da:Globus de:Globus (Kartografie) et:Gloobus es:Globo terráqueo fr:Globe planétaire id:Globe it:Globo he:גלובוס nl:Globe ja:地球儀 no:Globus pl:Globus ru:Глобус simple:Globe fi:Karttapallo sv:Jordglob tg:Глобус