Terrestrial globe

What it is

The oldest surviving terrestrial globe, built just before Columbus's return; it depicts the known world according to Ptolemy and Marco Polo, without America. A cosmographic instrument that made the Earth's sphericity tangible.

Earlier globes had existed (Crates of Mallus, 2nd century BCE; Arab globes), but none survive.

What it led to

• The visual teaching of cosmography at courts and universities
• The printed-globe industry (Waldseemüller, 1507; Mercator, 1541; Blaeu)
• The calculation of oceanic distances for exploration projects

Built on

• Sphericity of the Earthc. 350 BCE
• Map projection with coordinates (Ptolemy's Geography)c. 150 CE
• Portolan charts

Made possible

• Mercator projection1569
• Globes printed in gores
• Paired celestial globe

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