globe

View more Science videos

Background

Globes fall into two broad categories: terrestrial and celestial. Terrestrial globes are spherical maps of the world, and celestial globes use the earth as an imaginary center of the universe to map the stars in spherical form. A globe is the only "true" map of the world because there is no distortion in relationships of areas, directions, or distances. The actual flattening of the true earth at its poles and "fattening" around the equator are such small, real distortions that they don't appear at the scale of most globes. The sphere constituting the globe is mounted on an axle and stand so it can be rotated like the earth. The axle's tilt (23.5°) is the same as Earth's rotation on its axis (relative to the plane in which it orbits the Sun).

There are many types of globes within the classification of terrestrial globes. A physical globe depicts Earth as the astronauts see it (except that they also see the intervening clouds and the shadows cast by the sun). Although physical globes emphasize natural land features (sometimes showing them in relief), the features of the bottom of the sea can also be shown. A political globe shows the nations of the world in a variety of colors as well as other features of civilization like locations of cities. Varieties of celestial globes extend to globes of the planets and the moon. Thanks to satellite imagery and other technological advances, the physical features of the world are now available in globe form on CD-ROM as the digital globe.

History

The ancient Greeks never gave credence to "flat earth" theories. They knew the world was spherical and made the first globes to depict their understanding of it. A Greek named Crates is credited with making the first globe in about 150 B.C. Our ancient ancestors were quick to adapt the principle of the globe to mapping the skies. The Romans made a celestial globe called the Farnese globe in 25 A.D. Because they used local marble for this feat, the globe survives today.

German geographer Martin Behaim made the earliest terrestrial globe that has survived. Behaim's accomplishment was timely; he made his globe in 1492, and Christopher Columbus was almost certainly aware of it and strengthened by it in his conviction to sail West to find the Orient. Today's globes would not be the same without the Flemish geographer Gerhard Kremer who is better known by the Latin form of his name, Gerardus Mercator. Mercator lived from 1512-1594 and was also a cartographer, mathematician, astronomer, and engraver. He is best known for having developed the type of map, now called a Mercator projection, in which all the meridians and longitudinal lines are parallel and the lines of latitude intersect these at right angles and are also parallel to each other. The Mercator projection simplified map reading; for instance, a navigator can plot a ship's course between any two points in a straight line and follow that course without changing compass direction. Mercator also widely influenced all other aspects of mapmaking; the world atlas is also his invention. He made Louvain, Belgium, the center of the world of cartography and scientific instruments; and, there, he and Myrica Frisius constructed terrestrial and celestial globes in 1535-1537.

Raw Materials

In the past, globes were generally solid and made of a variety of materials including glass, marble, wood, and metal. Hollow globes, including those made in Mercator's day, were produced from thin metal sheets including copper. Today, globes are almost always hollow and can be made of any material that is both strong and lightweight. Cardboard, plastic, or metal can be used. A three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle with paper pieces backed with foam rubber is manufactured for puzzle fanatics, plastic globes with snap-on continents and other features are learning tools for children, decorative globes of Waterford crystal can ornament desk tops, and inflatable globes (both terrestrial and celestial) are useful tools and toys.

The George F. Cram Company and Replogle Globes Inc. are the only two manufacturers of traditional globes in the United States. The George F. Cram Company has made maps since 1867 and globes since 1929. The company's manufacturing processes for producing the two basic types of globe remain largely unchanged in 70 years. One type is made of fiberboard or cardboard, and the illuminated globe is made of plastic that will withstand the heat from a light bulb that is placed inside the sphere to light it from the inside out. Recycled cardboard is used for the cardboard globes. Injection molding plastic is also used to partially fill the plastic globe. Specialty manufacturers produce all other parts for the globe. These include tape required to join the two globe hemispheres ("Equator tape"); the axis, stand, base, or other mounting; and electrical wiring and the bulb socket for the illuminated version.

Design

Globes are made in two standard sizes. The 12in (30.5 cm) diameter globe (roughly the size of a basketball) is the most popular globe sold to schools and retailers, and the second most popular size is 16 in (40.6 cm) in diameter. Of all the globes sold, 80% of them are 12 in (30.5 cm) globes. Apart from distinctions like terrestrial, political, relief, celestial, etc., globes are made in a variety of color schemes because they are made as ornamental as well as informative objects to decorate homes and offices. Interestingly, children prefer globes with blue oceans, while adults like non-blue globes, of which the antique or off-white color is favored.

Globe manufacturers decide on new product lines based on constant input from the marketplace. Teachers may be the most important source of new globe concepts because they request changes in globes as the curriculum is modified. Globe makers also watch design and fashion trends because many globes are spontaneous purchases made because of appearance, and purchasers expect ornamental globes to be available in designs to match their decors. The globes themselves don't necessarily change for reasons of fashion, but stands and display pedestals do. Obvious choices include selections in dark and light wood; current trends toward Southwestern-style decor and wrought iron work have made globes mounted in these styles popular.

Manufacturers also produce new globes as changes in our world occur. Each manufacturer's research staff monitors changes in data that may require artwork adjustments. Physical globes tend to change little simply because geologic processes are slow and small and don't appear at the scale of most globes (660 miles to the inch on a 12-inch globe). Political changes occur more rapidly but are still not frequent. In the past five years, only three political changes have affected world globes, with two in Africa and one in Europe. By making computerized changes to the artwork printed on the globe, corrections can be made almost instantaneously. Sources for political changes in the world include the Office of Geographic Names (part of the U.S. Department of the Interior), the State Department, and the embassies of various governments. Globe-makers in the United States do not change political names until the State Department has officially recognized that a name change has occurred. For physical changes, the embassies are again sources, as is the Library of Congress. In the United States, the respective states are sources for information about changes within their boundaries. For example, the State of Louisiana provides data about the changing configuration of the Mississippi River Delta.

The Manufacturing
Process

1. The world is flat when the process of making a globe begins. Highly detailed and informative artwork prepared by a staff of researchers and cartographers is printed on sheets of cardboard. The Southern Hemisphere is printed on one sheet, and the Northern Hemisphere is reproduced on a second sheet of cardboard.
2. Gores, or tapering triangles, are then diecut into the printed sheets by a specialized machine; the half globe with cut gores looks like a pinwheel or a banana peel with a pole at the center and the parts of the peel forming segments of the world.
3. The artwork is designed and the gores are located in such a way that adjacent segments will match correctly when joined.
4. The cardboard hemispheres are then subjected to heat and pressure in a forming press to shape them into half spheres. The forming press works much like a curling iron and heats each hemisphere to about 300° F (148.9° C) for 90 seconds. In the joining process, the two halves are glued together to produce the round ball, and Equator tape is placed to cover the seam.
5. The completed ball is then sprayed with a liquid laminate to make it durable, fingerprint-proof, and glossily attractive.
6. After manufacture of the spheres is completed, they are fitted to any of the wide variety of mountings from inexpensive plastic to brass. The illuminated globes are equipped with light bulbs and electrical sockets, switches, and cords. The completed globes are packaged for sale or shipment.

Illuminated globes

Illuminated globes are made in a very similar manner except that the basic material is different. Artwork is printed on flat sheets of plastic substrate, this time with both hemispheres on the same sheet. The substrate is vacuum-formed into hemispheres by a one-of-a-kind machine that heats the plastic to thousands of degrees and sucks it into shape by applying a vacuum to the pliable plastic. The formed hemispheres are shipped offsite to an injection-molding factory where plastic is injected into them to harden the product. Space remains inside for the illumination source, and a hole is cut in Antarctica so the light bulb and socket can be inserted later. The two hemispheres are glued and taped together. The finished globe is so tough that it can actually be dribbled like a basketball on a concrete floor for five or six dribbles before it will break. The main advantages of owning an illuminated globe are that it is easier to read and it is more durable. The disadvantage is that cardboard used to make globes can be formed into a greater variety of products, including globes with topographic relief, and the vacuum-forming process for making the illuminated globes can only produce a smooth surface.

Quality Control

Technicians who manufacture globes are ISO 9000 certified and trained to ensure that each production step is consistent with established standards. Each production step is also a quality station. The technicians are responsible for rejecting products for any flaws, not just those occurring during their particular step of the process.

Byproducts/Waste

There are no byproducts from globe manufacture, although globe-makers often produce maps and related items. Waste is very limited. When the fiberboard is die-cut, the triangles that are removed are scrap; however, the cardboard is again recycled.

The Future

The globe's future is assured as a method of better understanding the changing face of the world we live in. Like manufacturers of many products, globe-makers face the challenge of identifying new ways of catching the public's fancy. Globes are often given as gifts to be used in specific settings (that is, by a student of a particular age or for business reference when the globe's mounting should match the office decor), and they must also be easy to use. Globes illustrate a tremendous amount of information, and manuals that are purchased with them need to be useful tools. The newest types of globes are becoming interactive and speak the names of countries, as they are touched. They are also designed to present certain information for users in the "global village"; time zone information, for example, can help corporate leaders communicate with their international counterparts in a timely manner. One of the latest and most significant advances in globe making has already occurred, thanks to digital technology. The development and manufacture of the digital globe is described in a companion article.

Where to Learn More

Periodicals

Mickle, Linda, ed. Map Report. Kankakee, IL: International Map Trade Association.

Sell, Colleen T., ed. Mercator's World: The Magazine of Maps, Exploration & Discovery. Eugene, OR: Aster Publishing Company.

Other

Captain's Globes. http://www.finestl.com/globes/.

George F. Cram Company. http://www.georgefcram.com.

International Map Trade Association. http://www.maptrade.com.

Mercator's World. http://www.mercatormag.com.

Motion Globes. http://www.motionglobes.com.

National Geographic Society. http://www.nationalgeographic.com.

[Article by: Gillian S. Holmes]

A sphere on the surface of which is a map of the world. The map may be drawn, engraved, or painted directly on the surface but is more commonly prepared as a series of gores, or segments in other designs, to be affixed to the globe ball (see illustration).

Globe gores from collections of Library of Congress. (Istituto Geografico de Agostini, Novara, Italy)

Globes are both artistically interesting and scientifically useful. Their principal value is in stimulating sound concepts of worldwide patterns and in rectifying errors induced by the limitations of flat maps. All flat maps distort the Earth's surface patterns, but carefully made globes constitute truer scale models of the Earth, with correct areas, shapes, and distances as well as continuity of surface. Globes have long been used as aids in navigation, in the teaching of earth sciences, and as room ornaments.

Many modern globes have special attachments to improve their utility. A meridian ring, extending from pole to pole, may be calibrated in degrees to measure latitude. The longitude of points directly beneath that ring will be indicated at the intersection of the ring with the equatorial scale. A horizon ring at right angles to the meridian ring may be calibrated in miles or in meters, degrees, and hours to expedite distance and time measurement. A hinged horizon ring may be lifted to serve as a meridian ring, or placed in an oblique position to show great circle routes and distances.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

Having control of one's world can be indicated by a stationary globe. A spinning globe often symbolizes the opposite situation-that one's world is out of control.

• Maps and Cartography - globe: spherical model of Earth showing physical features
• Decorations, Ornaments, and Symbolic Objects - globe: spherical model of Earth on stand
• Newspaper Names
• Shapes - globe: sphere, esp. the Earth

This article is about spherical models of the Earth or other celestial bodies. For other uses, see Globe (disambiguation).

A modern raised-relief world globe

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 refer to a spherical representation of the celestial sphere, showing the apparent positions of the stars and constellations in the sky (celestial globe). The word "globe" comes from the Latin word globus, meaning round mass or sphere.

Contents 1 Terrestrial and planetary 2 Celestial 3 History 4 Manufacture 5 Notable examples 6 Gallery 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

Terrestrial and planetary

A globe is the only representation of the earth that does not distort either the shape or the size of large features; flat maps are created using a map projection that inevitably introduces an increasing amount of 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 surface texture showing topography; in these, elevations are exaggerated, otherwise they would be hardly visible. Most modern globes are also imprinted with parallels and meridians, so that one can tell the approximate coordinates of a specific place. Globes provide the best view of Earth today.

Celestial

A German celestial globe c.1770

See also: Star chart and Armillary sphere

Celestial globes show the apparent positions of the stars in the sky. They omit the Sun, Moon and planets because the positions of these bodies vary relative to those of the stars, but the ecliptic, along which the Sun moves, is indicated.

A potential issue arises regarding the "handedness" of celestial globes. If the globe is constructed so that the stars are in the positions they actually occupy on the imaginary celestial sphere, then the star field will appear back-to-front on the surface of the globe (all the constellations will appear as their mirror images). This is because the view from Earth, positioned at the centre of the celestial sphere, is of the inside of the celestial sphere, whereas the celestial globe is viewed from the outside. For this reason, celestial globes may be produced in mirror image, so that at least the constellations appear the "right way round". Some modern celestial globes address this problem by making the surface of the globe transparent. The stars can then be placed in their proper positions and viewed through the globe, so that the view is of the inside of the celestial sphere, as it is from Earth.

History

The "Erdapfel" of Martin Beheim is the oldest surviving terrestrial globe. The Americas are not yet included. 1491-1493. Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nuremberg

The sphericity of the Earth was established by Hellenistic astronomy in the 3rd century BC, and the earliest terrestrial globe appeared from that period. The earliest known example is the one constructed by Crates of Mallus in Cilicia (now Çukurova in modern-day Turkey), in the mid-2nd century BC.

No terrestrial globes from Antiquity or the Middle Ages have survived. An example of a surviving celestial globe is part of a Hellenistic sculpture, called the Farnese Atlas, surviving in a 2nd century AD Roman copy in the Naples Museum, Italy.^[1]

Early terrestrial globes depicting the entirety of the Old World were constructed in the Islamic world.^[2][3] According to David Woodward, one such example was the terrestrial globe introduced to Beijing by the Persian astronomer, Jamal ad-Din, in 1267.^[4]

The oldest surviving terrestrial globe is the Erdapfel, created by Martin Behaim in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1492.^[1] A facsimile globe showing America was made by Martin Waldseemueller in 1507. Another early globe, the Hunt-Lenox Globe, ca. 1507, is thought to be the source of the phrase "Here be dragons". Another "remarkably modern-looking" terrestrial globe of the Earth was constructed by Taqi al-Din at the Istanbul observatory of Taqi al-Din during the 1570s.^[5]

An unusually high proportion of vintage 20th century world globes feature the Australian town of Birdum, which no longer exists but once held an important position at the end of the Northern Australian Railway.

Globus IMP electro-mechanical devices including five-inch globes have been used in Soviet and Russian spacecraft from 1961 to 2002 as navigation instruments. In 2001, the TMA version of the Soyuz spacecraft replaced this instrument with a virtual globe.^[6]

Manufacture

A short, 1955, Dutch film showing the manufacture of globes

Traditionally, globes were manufactured by gluing a printed paper map onto a sphere, often made from wood.

The most common type has long, thin gores (strips) of paper that narrow to a point at the poles,^[7] small disks cover over the inevitable irregularities at these points. 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.

A thermoplastic globe hemisphere, before the excess plastic has been trimmed off.

Modern globes are often made from thermoplastic. Flat, plastic disks are printed with a distorted map of one of the Earth's Hemispheres. This is placed in machine which molds the disk into a hemispherical shape. The hemisphere is united with its opposite counterpart to form a complete globe.

A globe is usually mounted at a 23.5° angle on a meridian. 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.

Notable examples

• The Unisphere in Queens, New York, at 120 feet (36.6 m) in diameter, is the world's largest global structure.
• Eartha, currently the world's largest rotating globe (41 ft or 12 m in diameter), at the Delorme headquarters in Yarmouth, Maine
• The Mapparium, three-story, stained glass globe at the Mary Baker Eddy Library in Boston, which visitors walk through via a 30-foot (9.1 m) glass bridge.
• The Babson globe in Wellesley, Massachusetts, a 26-foot-diameter (7.9 m) 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.^[8]

Gallery

• 

  Top view of 1765 de l'Isle globe

• 

  The Unisphere, attributed to "uribe"/Uri Baruchin

• 

  1594, Mechanised Celestial Globe

• 

  A Globus IMP navigation instrument from a Voskhod spacecraft.

• 

  Eartha, the largest rotating globe in the world.

• 

  A map of Mars that circulated commercialy in the 19th century. It is an example of how maps are printed in order to be folded around a sphere to form a globe.

• 

  Muhammad Salih Tahtawi of Sindh, headed the task of creating a massive, seamless celestial globe using a secret wax casting method in the Mughal Empire, the famous celestial globe of Muhammad Salih Tahtawi is inscribed with Arabic and Persian inscriptions and was completed in the year 1631.^[9][10]

• 

  Multitouch spherical Globe with digital EARTH based on multitouch software

See also

• Armillary sphere
• Cartography
• Dymaxion map
• Emery Molyneux
• Google Earth
• NASA World Wind
• Johannes Schöner globe
• Virtual globe
• Voskhod Spacecraft "Globus" IMP navigation instrument

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2003.
2. ^ Medieval Islamic Civilization By Josef W. Meri, Jere L Bacharach, page 138-139 - available via google books - http://books.google.com/books?id=H-k9oc9xsuAC&pg=PA138&lpg=PA138&dq=al-Ma%3Fmun%3Fs+globe&source=bl&ots=TSmSiEUZXk&sig=NGzhTsbRRoSmH4UiPQCh0Y1sO_c&hl=en&ei=NMxYSvbsBeS6jAfNjNwa&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8
3. ^ Covington, Richard (2007), Saudi Aramco World, May–June 2007: 17–21, http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200703/the.third.dimension.htm, retrieved 2008-07-06 
4. ^ David Woodward (1989), "The Image of the Spherical Earth", Perspecta (MIT Press) 25: 3–15 [9], JSTOR 1567135 
5. ^ Soucek, Svat (1994), "Piri Reis and Ottoman Discovery of the Great Discoveries", Studia Islamica (Maisonneuve &#38) 79 (79): 121–142 [123 & 134–6], doi:10.2307/1595839, JSTOR 1595839 
6. ^ Tiapchenko, Yurii. "Information Display Systems for Russian Spacecraft: An Overview". Computing in the Soviet Space Program (Translation from Russian: Slava Gerovitch). http://web.mit.edu/slava/space/essays/essay-tiapchenko1.htm. 
7. ^ http://netpbm.sourceforge.net/doc/globe.jpg
8. ^ "The Mystery of Hitler's Globe Goes Round and Round", by Michael Kimmelman, September 18, 2007. Accessed September 18, 2007.
9. ^ Savage-Smith, Emilie (1985), Islamicate Celestial Globes: Their History, Construction, and Use, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. 
10. ^ Kazi, Najma (24 November 2007). "Seeking Seamless Scientific Wonders: Review of Emilie Savage-Smith's Work". FSTC Limited. http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?articleID=832. Retrieved 2008-02-01. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Globe

• ppmglobe - generate strips to glue onto a sphere
• 3D VRML globe
• 3D Java Globe with coastlines, parallels, meridians, etc.
• How to orient a globe in homothetic position to the Earth

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - kugle, globus, øjeæble, jorden
v. intr. - samle i kugle, give kugleform
v. tr. - samle i en kugle, give kugleform

idioms:

• globe artichoke    artiskok

Nederlands (Dutch)
aardbol, hemellichaam, bol, rijksappel, glazen bol, gloeilamp, oogbal, bolvormig maken/worden

Français (French)
n. - globe, globe terrestre, globe (d'une lampe)
v. intr. - former une sphère
v. tr. - prendre la forme d'une sphère

idioms:

• globe artichoke    artichaut

Deutsch (German)
n. - Kugel, Globus, Erdkugel
v. - kugelförmig machen, kugelförmig werden

idioms:

• globe artichoke    Artischocke

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - γλόμπος, λάμπα, σφαίρα, υδρόγειος (σφαίρα)
v. - δίνω σφαιρικό σχήμα

idioms:

• globe artichoke    αγκινάρα

Italiano (Italian)
globo

idioms:

• globe artichoke    carciofo

Português (Portuguese)
n. - globo (m) (terrestre) (Geog.), esfera (f), modelo (m) do globo terrestre (Geog.)
v. - tomar a forma de um globo, englobar

idioms:

• globe artichoke    alcachofra (f) (Bot.), cabeça (f) comestível da alcachofra (Bot.) (Culin.)

Русский (Russian)
шар, глобус

idioms:

• globe artichoke    артишок (съедобная часть)

Español (Spanish)
n. - bola, esfera, globo, globo terráqueo, esfera terrestre, planeta Tierra, otro planeta
v. intr. - dar forma de globo a
v. tr. - tomar la forma de un globo

idioms:

• globe artichoke    alcachofa

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - klot, glob, riksäpple, kupa
v. - göra klotformig

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
球, 地球仪, 球状物, 地球, 成球状, 使成球状

idioms:

• globe artichoke    朝鲜蓟, 洋蓟

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 球, 地球儀, 球狀物, 地球
v. intr. - 成球狀
v. tr. - 使成球狀

idioms:

• globe artichoke    朝鮮薊, 洋薊

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 구체, 지구
v. intr. - 공 모양으로 되다
v. tr. - 공 모양으로 하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 地球, 天体, 地球儀, 球, 球体, 球形のガラス器
v. - 球状にする

idioms:

• globe artichoke    アーチチョーク

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) كرة, الكرة الارضيه (فعل) يجعل شيئا مثل الكرة‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮כדור הארץ, כדור, גלובוס, כוכב, גלגל העין, כדור זהב כסמל מלכות, גוף כדורי כלשהו, כל כלי זכוכית עגול‬
v. intr. - ‮להתכדר‬
v. tr. - ‮לעשות לכדורי‬