Gerardus Mercator Quotes
Best 7 Quotes by Gerardus Mercator
“Dear reader, greetings.
Let America, Sarmatia and India bear witness, dear reader, that the image of the world you see here is newer and more correct than those that have been circulated hitherto.
We propose with regard to the different parts of the world to treat, successively, particular regions more broadly, as we are already doing with Europe, and you may soon expect a universal map, which will not be inferior to that of Ptolemy.
Farewell.”
“Shortly before the 1st of May this year, I have been called by His Imperial Majesty to Brussels. The reason the invitation was that he wanted to have drawn from me the situation of the countries on a fist-sized globe. Undoubtedly, the mathematical instruments were pleased that I had just made his majesty before his last departure to Germany.”
“Since my youth geography has been for me the primary object of study. When I was engaged in it, having applied the considerations of the natural and geometric sciences, I liked, little by little, not only the description of the earth, but also the structure of the whole machinery of the world, whose numerous elements are not known by anyone to date.”
“Spread on a plane the surface of a sphere in such a way that the positions of all places shall correspond on all sides with each other both in so far as true direction and distance are concerned and as concerns true longitudes and latitudes.”
“This little world was in a celestial globe of crystal – made with highest diligence – insert, and should be installed on top of an unprecedented movement above, which had been brought from Milan by the art master Janellus itself.”
“This movement shows eight pages, the movement of the seven planets and the fixed stars completely precisely and accordingly just as many pages above it – as it tapers into a cone – was written, which can be taught by a closer acquaintance with the calendar else.”
“When I saw that Moses’ version of the Genesis of the world did not fit sufficiently in many ways with Aristotle and the rest of the philosophers, I began to have doubts about the truth of all philosophers and started to investigate the secrets of nature.”
