diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index c4d94de..2298123 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -95,7 +95,14 @@ I don't have a complete list of what data files are needed, so I usually just ru You can alternatively scroll through `compose_maps.py` to see what files it references (anything that starts with "ne_" is the name of a Natural Earth dataset). ## Wherefore? -I'll write a little blurb here later. +While maps of the world are often perceived as authoritative sources of information, in reality, any image that represents the Earth's surface on a plane is inherently wrong. This is because the Earth's surface cannot all be viewed at the same time, either on a sphere or on any isometric transformation of a sphere, unless one is willing to distort the features in the map to make them all lie flat. +This is the impetus for the map projection – any technique by which geographic features on the map may be represented on a computer screen or on a piece of paper. +For localized maps, it doesn't make much of a difference, but the larger the mapped area the more the distortion will become aparent, depending on which projection you use. +Hundreds have been invented over the past two thousand years. +Some distort areas, some distort angles, and some distort both. +Some are widely used, some are hotly debated, and some are only known to a select few corners of the internet. +The goal of this program is to gather and categorize them, not only for the sake of learning about them (the collection at [map-projections.net](https://map-projections.net/) is far more comprehensive than mine if that's your aim) but also for the sake of using to display arbitrary data. +And in oblique aspects! For some examples, check out the `output` folder (all were created with this program but some also involved some postprocessing in paint.net). For more information, go to [jkunimune.github.io/Map-Projections](https://jkunimune.github.io/Map-Projections).