Every map tells a lie, but good maps use the right projection to tell specific truths. This is "Get to Know a Projection," a Map Lab series that shows you all the different ways to unround the Earth.

Because the Earth is roughly spherical, every flat map distorts our planet one way or another. The most popular version is the Mercator projection, created by Flemish cartographer Gerardus ...

THE subject of map projections is one in which the English language is strangely deficient, a deficiency the more apparent when contrasted with the wealth of Continental literature on the subject.