The history of the creation of the globe. A brief history of the globe The first globe was created in 1482

Despite the huge number of versions of travelers and ancient thinkers about the shape and content of our earth, the famous philosopher Aristotle was the first to provide evidence of its sphericity. Over time, science needed more detailed materials for further discoveries related to the earth.

Thus, a successful attempt was made to create an object that would become a clear example for obtaining all the necessary information about our land. This model is called the globe, which has the Latin name “globus” - ball.

Using three-dimensional graphics, modern people have received a realistic three-dimensional image of the globe. A similar copy of the earth, which is millions of times smaller,

In fact, the ball is slightly flattened. Its color characteristic consists of blue (reflects the presence of water on the earth's surface), green (shows where land is), white (this is the territory of ice), brown (indicating continents) and a yellow tint. The globe reflects the tilt of the earth's axis. It is around the invisible axis that the earth rotates. The imaginary axis has two outputs. The first highest point represents the North Pole. Bottom – South Pole. In fact, these points are not marked on the ground. The entire globe is divided into two parts thanks to a surrounding line called the equator. This is how people got an idea of ​​the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. This line, like the axis, is not marked in reality. Meridians run from one pole to the other. Lines that are parallel to the equator are called parallels

This invention has several types, the choice of which depends on the purpose of the research. You can learn about the borders of countries and populated areas by looking at a political globe. The physical reflects continents, currents, meridians and parallels. The first acquaintance with the relief globe will interest you with its convex surface, which will clearly help you remember the location of the mountains.

The creation of the globe was a great discovery in science, as scientists had the opportunity to study different patterns of all phenomena on earth. Thus, having in front of you the most important such invention - the globe, you can easily discover what and where exactly is on its surface, and get acquainted with geographical patterns. This is an accessible location of geographical objects, which becomes a source of knowledge for everyone.

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Each of us has seen a globe at least once in our lives, in a store or in a school closet. A globe, according to S.I. Ozhegov’s dictionary, is “a visual aid - a rotating model of the globe or other spherical celestial body.”

More precisely, a globe is an image of a map applied to a spherical surface that repeats the approximate shape of the Earth, preserving similar contours and areas.

The globe has been created since ancient times. Among ancient writers one can find references to Crates of Mallus, who around 150 BC. ago created the “globe of the earth.”

But still, the oldest globe that has survived to our times is the “earth apple”, which was created by Martin Beheim in 1492, a German geographer from Nuremberg. It is he who is considered the creator of the globe. Martin Beheim was an outstanding scientist in Germany in the 15th century.

He gained his knowledge from sea expeditions and from the great astronomers of that time. When working on the “apple,” Martin used materials from the famous traveler Marcus Polo and the Portuguese with whom he sailed along the coast of West Africa in 1484.

He subsequently received the position of court cartographer and astronomer in Lisbon, and it was to him that Christopher Columbus came for advice before his main discovery.

In 1490, finding himself in his hometown of Nuremberg, Martin met a lover of travel and geographical science, Georg Holzschuer, a member of the city council.

Georg was inspired by Beheim's stories about his African expedition and persuaded him to create a globe that would display all the knowledge of that modern cartography. At that time, this was a truly great discovery.

Work on the globe or the “Earthly Apple,” as the scientist himself called it, dragged on for four whole years. The metal ball, covered with parchment, was painted by a local artist from maps that Behaim gave him.

The boundaries of states and seas, as well as the coats of arms and flags of many countries, as well as elements of the starry sky, the equator, meridians, the south and north poles were marked on the globe.

But of course, the accuracy of this globe cannot be judged, since it was based on ancient Greek knowledge about the world. Therefore, all locations of land objects on it are very approximate. Also, America is not depicted on this globe, since when the globe was finished, Columbus had not yet returned from his journey.

Subsequently, the globes were transformed, changed, and new knowledge brought from sea expeditions, simple travels or research by great scientists was added to the images on it. But it was Martin Behaim's globe that became the main prototype for modern globes.

And yet, the “Earth Apple” is a unique exhibit, a landmark of the Nuremberg German National Museum. It is there that it is still kept.

The earth has the shape of a ball. This was finally proven when artificial satellites flew around the Earth in all directions. They received photographs of the Earth, clearly showing the convexity of the earth's surface (Fig. 33).

Parts of the world, oceans, seas, rivers, mountains and other geographical objects are marked on the globe. On the globe you can see that most of the earth's surface is occupied by oceans. There are four oceans: Quiet, Indian, Atlantic, Arctic.

Huge areas of land, washed on all sides by the waters of the oceans, are called continents or continents. There are six continents on the globe: Eurasia, North America, South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia.

A continent or part of a continent together with nearby islands is called a part of the world. There are six parts of the world: Europe, Asia, Africa, America, Australia, Antarctica. As you can see, on one continent of Eurasia there are two parts of the world: Europe and Asia. The conventional border between these parts of the world is drawn along the eastern slope of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, north of the Caucasus Mountains along the Kuma-Manych depression, and the Black Sea.

The first globes were created back in Ancient Greece. During the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries in 1492, the first globe that has survived to this day was created. It showed only the continents of the Old World. As different parts of the Earth were studied, more and more accurate globes were created.

If the globe is cut in half along one of the meridians, you will get two hemispheres, each of which will depict half of the surface of the globe.

It is more convenient to use such hemispheres, since you can immediately see the surface of the entire globe. On the globe, only the part that faces the observer is visible. If the hemispheres are shown on a plane, on paper, then this will be a map of the hemispheres, which is placed in atlases.

But it is impossible to depict a hemisphere on a plane without it crumpling into folds and, in some places, tearing apart. True, you can cut the globe along the meridians into shares (Fig. 35) and make a map from these shares (Fig. 36). It is clear that distortions are inevitable on such a map, and they increase in the direction from the Equator to the poles. Therefore, when you need to find out the distance between two points, it is advisable to do this using a globe, since it almost exactly repeats the shape of the Earth.

The degree grid (parallels and meridians) are conditional lines; they do not exist on the very surface of the Earth. They are carried out on a map and globe so that it is possible to accurately indicate where this or that geographical object is located, where travelers are located. Meridians and parallels help navigate, that is, determine your position on the ground and on the map in relation to the sides of the horizon. Parallels and meridians are located perpendicular to each other.

Conventional lines of the poles, equator, tropics and polar circles are also drawn on globes and maps. There is also a conventional date line.

Degree grid

December 22, V winter solstice, the sun's rays fall vertically down over Southern Tropic— parallel to 23.5° S, and the Sun does not set over Southern Arctic Circle at latitude 66.5° S. It's summer in the Southern Hemisphere. The sun does not appear above the Antarctic Circle on June 22, during the Southern Hemisphere winter. Twice a year, 21 March And 23 September, the rays of the Sun fall vertically down over the equator and uniformly illuminate the Earth from pole to pole. In these days of spring and autumn equinox day and night last 12 hours everywhere.

Date line

Geographical coordinates

Geographical coordinates any point is called its latitude and longitude. The coordinates of any place on the earth's surface can be determined from a globe or a map. And vice versa, knowing the coordinates of a geographical object, you can find its place on a map or globe.

In the list of the main discoveries of geography, dating back to ancient times, the invention of the globe is included as one of the main and significant achievements of all mankind. This moment became significant in the history of the development of science, as it allowed people to expand their knowledge about the world around them, new continents, countries and territories. Many years of using the globe and map in practice have made it possible for modern specialists to collect a significant number of interesting facts about them, the history of the emergence and origin of this discipline.

Concept

It is a generalized three-dimensional model of the Earth or any other planet, which is made in the shape of a ball for ease of human perception. Gives a basic concept of the location of various continents, oceans, seas and other geographical objects. Translated from Latin, “globus” means ball.

One of the interesting facts about the globe is the creation of a celestial or stellar model, which conveys the placement of stars and astronomical bodies in the sky in a mirror image, since people see the globe from the outside, from the outside, and look at the sky as “from the inside.”

Excursion into history

After studying some materials and findings, experts came to the conclusion that the invention of the model of our planet occurred several times. The reason for this was the rapid development of science, the discovery of new and unexplored lands, as well as navigation and trade, which developed at a rapid pace in those days.

Ancient Greece

In the 3rd century BC. scientists established that the planet Earth has the shape of a ball, and later, around 150 BC, the philosopher Crates of Mallus (also known as Crates of Malos) invented the world's first globe with a coordinate system in the form of circles. This happened in the ancient city of Pergamon; the ancient Greek historians Geminus and Strabo mentioned this event in their works.

Muslim countries

The famous astronomer Jamal Ad-Din, who was born in Bukhara, in 1267, on the territory of modern Beijing, presented Kublai Khan with a globe, which served as a gift from Khan Hulagu.

At the Istanbul Observatory there was a model of the Earth, which was developed by a scientist named Takiyuddin al-Shami. This fact was mentioned in 1574.

It is also known that the production of celestial models was first carried out by astronomer Muhammad Salih Tatawi in India, thanks to the Mughal dynasty.

Appearance in Russia

A spherical model appeared on the territory of the country thanks to ambassadors from Holland in 1672. It was they who presented such a gift to Tsar Alexei Romanov, who ruled in those years. Some time later, his young son Peter, who had just turned 17, demanded that this gift be moved to his chambers. From childhood, the future Emperor of Russia showed extreme interest in the latest discoveries and developments of science and technology.

Known specimens

When starting to study geography at school, it will be useful for children to learn some interesting facts about the globe, for example, what are the most famous ones.

Giant Earth

In Yarmouth, Maine, at the headquarters of the American company DeLorme, which specializes in the production of satellite systems and GPS navigation, there is a truly incomparable model of the Earth.

We are talking about the Guinness Book of record holder of the Eartha rotating system, which has simply unique parameters:

  • weight - 2500 kg;
  • diameter - 12.5 m;
  • 792 parts of a geographical map, each of which covers an area of ​​latitude and longitude of 8 and 10 degrees respectively;
  • 6000 aluminum pipes;
  • the height is almost like a house of 4 floors;
  • the mounting angle is 23.5 degrees, as in all others;
  • The duration of one revolution is 18 minutes.

The sample is placed in a glass atrium, illuminated at night, which is simply a mesmerizing sight. For a more detailed view of the upper part of Eartha, high balconies are located inside the building so that all visitors can easily view this unusual exhibit.

Pupils of the cartography school of publisher Willem Janszoon Blaeu in Amsterdam in 1690 created a two-meter model of the globe made of copper on a stand made of wood. The product was presented to King Charles XI of Sweden as a gift. Later, in 1710, it was purchased and transported to Russia by Tsar Peter I. The copy was exhibited in the Lefortovo Palace, the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, the Sukharev Tower, the Kunstkamera and the Rumyantsev Museum until it moved to a permanent exhibition location in the Historical Museum of Moscow.

World globe

The previous record holder, which was replaced by Eartha, is located in the area of ​​Apecchio near the city of Pesaro in Italy, has a diameter of 10 m and a weight of 30 tons (some sources indicate a weight of 17 tons). The main materials used in its construction were putty mixture, wood and nails.

Gottorpsky

This exhibit was made in the form of a planetarium, having a diameter of 3.1 m and a weight of 3.5 tons, and belongs to the category of monuments of science and technology of category I.

In 1651, Duke Frederick III of Gottorp ordered work on the production of a large globe to begin, led by Adam Olearius. Many powerful frame parts, platforms, and internal lining were created. The uniqueness of this specimen consisted of two simultaneously rotating balls with 12 spectators sitting inside on a bench at a table. Continents and oceans were depicted on the outside, and a star map in the middle.

The journey of this outstanding creation to St. Petersburg from Germany took 3 years. On March 20, 1717, the exhibit was brought to the Kunstkamera buildings as a gift to Peter I. But, unfortunately, the fire of 1747 completely destroyed the rare specimen. Only the entrance door to the planetarium with the heraldry of the dukes survived, since at the time of the emergency it was stored in the basement; now it is on display in the Kunstkamera exhibition.

During 1748-1752, a group of specialists managed to restore the Large Academic Globe Planetarium, which today is located in the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

"Earth Apple"

Its author is Martin Beheim, a famous navigator and geographer of Germany, who constructed this sample in 1493-1494. One of the inscriptions on the exhibit states that it was created in 1492, but other documentary evidence was later found. Upon completion of the work, it was exhibited in the building of the city council of Nuremberg. It is considered the oldest model, which has survived to this day, has the shape of a ball with a diameter of 507 mm, and is made of metal.

The astronomer depicted a lot of interesting moments in his work - ruling monarchs on their thrones, flags, various inscriptions and images. The author took the famous maps of Ptolemy as the basis for his understanding of the world of that time and took into account all the changes that were made after the wanderings of the Portuguese and Marco Polo. There is no image of America on the model yet, since Christopher Columbus discovered it a little later, but Africa, Asia and Eurasia are in their places. However, the last of the listed continents is indicated to be much more extended than it actually is. Despite the absence of longitude and latitude, the meridians, equator and location of tropical zones are indicated correctly.

Currently, the “Earth Apple” is considered one of the main attractions of Nuremberg, which has been on public display in the local national museum since 1907.

Ostrich egg

Experts believe that this is one of the oldest globes depicting North America, an interesting fact about which, especially for children, is that it is made from 2 parts of an ostrich egg, which are glued together with an unusual material - shellac - a natural polymer.

Many inquisitive people, wanting to find out who created the first globe, go to Wikipedia, leaf through encyclopedias, study reference literature and come to the conclusion that this geographical instrument was originally made in Ancient Greece by the ancient philosopher Crates from Malla. If you ask the same question to a specialist, he will answer with confidence that the Globus navigation system was first used in the Soviet Union in 1961 during the landing of the Vostok spacecraft. Therefore, before finding out who created the first globe, it is necessary to decide what kind of object we are talking about - heavenly or earthly, a surviving model or semi-legendary rumors about it.

Oral legends about who created the first globe

According to the officially recognized version, the first model of the spherical Earth was created by Crates of Mallus (Pergamon), who became famous in antiquity for his comments on Homer, writing “Correction of the Iliad and Odyssey.” At that time, there were disputes about the shape of our planet, and despite the fact that heretics were not persecuted at that time, the first globe in the form of a painted ball was greeted by contemporaries quite skeptically.

In Muslim literature, this invention is attributed to Jamal ad-Din, an astronomer from Bukhara, who, on the orders of Genghis Khan’s grandson Hulagu Khan, produced an armillary sphere, an astrolabe and a model of a globe in Beijing in 1267 as a gift to another Genghisid, Kublai Khan.

Unfortunately, only meager descriptions of these objects have survived to this day, without their images and indications of what was applied to the surface of the ball.

Surviving early globes

The oldest globe that has survived to this day is in the German National Museum (Nuremberg). It was created in 1493 - 1494 and was called the “Earthly Apple” (“Erdapfel”). It was later renamed the “Behaim Globe” after its creator, the German merchant Martin Behaim. When applying the cartographic situation on the surface of the copper ball, Ptolemy's maps as edited by Paolo Toscanelli were used. There is no image of the American continent on the globe, since its independence was proven by Amerigo Vespucci only 20 years after the creation of this instrument.

No less interesting is the question of who was the first globe depicting the celestial sphere. The authorship is attributed to the Indian metallurgist Muhammad Salih Tatawi, who cast it in India on the orders of one of the rulers of the Mughal dynasty.