Mercator projection

Main feature of Mercator projection: movement in a fixed compass direction appears as a straight line on the map. The cover of the book showed Atlas holding the world on his shoulders, this is why books of maps are called atlases.
 Gerard Kramer Flanders 1568 Mercator projection

Main feature of Mercator projection: movement in a fixed compass direction appears as a straight line on the map. The cover of the book showed Atlas holding the world on his shoulders, this is why books of maps are called atlases.