Bust of Gerardus Mercator in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium

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Gerardus Mercator was born on March 5, 1512, in Rupelmonde, County of Flanders, which is now part of modern-day Belgium. He passed away on December 2, 1594, in Duisburg, Duchy of Cleves, which is now part of Germany. Mercator is renowned as the cartographer who created a world map based on a new projection that represented sailing courses of constant bearing as straight lines - an innovation that to this day simplifies and enhances navigation. In his time, he was the most famous geographer in the world, but he also had interests in theology, philosophy, history, mathematics, and magnetism. He was an accomplished engraver, calligrapher, and maker of globes and scientific instruments. Unlike other great scholars of his age, Mercator traveled little and acquired his knowledge of geography from his library of over a thousand books and maps, his visitors, and his vast correspondence with other scholars, statesmen, travelers, merchants, and sailors. His early maps were large formats suitable for wall mounting, but in the second half of his life, he produced over 100 new regional maps in smaller formats that could be bound into his Atlas of 1595. This was the first time the word "Atlas" appeared in a geographical context, but Mercator used it as a neologism to describe a treatise on the creation, history, and description of the universe. A significant portion of Mercator's income came from selling his terrestrial and celestial globes, which were considered the finest in the world for sixty years. They were sold in large numbers, resulting in many surviving examples. This was a substantial enterprise that involved making the spheres, printing the gores, building sturdy stands, packing, and distributing them across Europe. Mercator was also renowned for his scientific instruments, particularly his astrolabes and sets of "rings" used to study astronomy and astrology. Mercator wrote on geography, philosophy, chronology, and theology. His wall maps were engraved with extensive text about the regions they depicted. For example, his famous world map from 1569 contains over 5000 words in fifteen legends. The Atlas of 1595 has approximately 120 pages of maps and illustrated title pages, but more pages are dedicated to his account of the universe's creation and descriptions of all the countries portrayed. Mercator was a devout Christian born into a Catholic family during a time when Luther's Protestantism was gaining momentum. Although he never declared himself a Lutheran, he showed sympathy for their views and was accused of heresy (Lutheranye). He spent six months in prison but emerged unscathed. This period of persecution may have contributed to his move from the Catholic city of Louvain to the more tolerant Duisburg, where he lived for the last thirty years of his life. Walter Ghim, Mercator's friend and first biographer, described him as a person who was sober in behavior yet cheerful and witty in company. He was never happier than when engaging in debates with other scholars, but above all, he was pious and studious until his final days.