Michael Waterhouse
Global Politics
THESE DAYS MAP-MAKERS are rarely the objects of vilification. That distinction tends to be reserved for other kinds of scientist, such as researchers who experiment on animals, or WMD experts. But in the sixteenth century any intellectual living in mainland Europe could find himself denounced to the Inquisition, and if his view of the world did not conform to that of the Catholic Church, he could be in mortal danger.
Gerard Mercator is not generally remembered as a religious renegade, but as the creator of the 'projection' to which he gave his name. Mercator made maps and globes of staggering beauty and accuracy (a pair of his globes can fetch $1.8 million), but it was the Mercator Projection, his method
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
'There is a difference between a doctor who writes medical treatises and a doctor who writes absurdist fiction. Do we want our heart surgeon to be an anti-realist?'
Joanna Kavenna peruses Iain Bamforth's 'Scattered Limbs: A Medical Dreambook'.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/trust-me-philosopher
How did Uwe Johnson, the German writer who was friends with Hannah Arendt and Max Frisch, end up living out his days in the town of Sheerness, Kent?
https://literaryreview.co.uk/estuary-german
You only have a week left to take advantage of our February offer: a six-month subscription for only £19.99.
https://www.mymagazinesub.co.uk/literary-review/promo/literaryfebruary/