Globe is a scaled-down model of the Earth or some other planet. Until now, fragmentary information has come down that the first spherical globe was created in Greece in the II century BC. However, no direct evidence of this in the form of the model itself or its images has survived. Therefore, it is generally accepted that the first three-dimensional image of the globe was made in 1492 by the German scientist Martin Beheim.
Instructions
Step 1
Behaim's model of the planet was called not a globe, but an "earthly apple." It was made by order of the city council of Nuremberg. The German geographer and traveler began to work on the volumetric image in 1492, but this compact globe took its final form only two years later. It is generally accepted that the Beheim model is the oldest globe on the planet.
Step 2
Initially, the first "earthly apple" was supposed to be used as a model for the manufacture of other similar models. The customers rightly believed that a reduced image of the majestic planet could induce merchants to sponsor expeditions around the world. Beheim and his assistants took as a basis for the image of the Earth's surface a map, which was acquired in Portugal, which was sufficiently accurate for that time.
Step 3
The model looked like a metal ball with a diameter of just over half a meter. The globe reflects the most recent data on the geography of the Earth, which European science had at its disposal. The main cartographic data were collected by Portuguese navigators. The model depicted Europe, much of Asia and Africa. Columbus reached the American continent just during Beheim's work on the first globe, so the New World was not marked on the "earthly apple".
Step 4
To a modern person familiar with geography, the first globe would seem quirky and funny. The outlines of the continents on it, of course, did not correspond to the true state of affairs. On the image of the planet's surface, there was no longitude and latitude familiar to today's users, there were only lines that indicated the equator and meridians. There were a lot of factual errors on the globe, which, however, was explained by the low level of development of cartography.
Step 5
And yet Beheim's globe was a tremendous achievement in science at the time. In the late Middle Ages, geographical maps were used quite widely, but such a visual depiction of the earth's surface did not yet exist. With the advent of the "Earth's apple", travelers had the opportunity to get a more complete idea of the size of the planet and assess the scale of expeditions around the world.
Step 6
The first model of the Earth quickly became a local landmark. For a long time, the globe was kept for public viewing in the building of the city hall, after which it passed into the possession of the Behaim family. Since the beginning of the last century, the "Earth's apple" has become an exhibit of one of the museums in Nuremberg.
