Each of us at least once in our lives, in a store or in a school closet, has seen a globe. A globe, according to the dictionary of S.I. Ozhegov, is “a visual aid - a rotating model of the globe or other spherical celestial body.”

More precisely, a globe is an image of a map applied to a spherical surface that repeats the approximate shape of the Earth, preserving the similarity of contours and areas.

The globe has been created since ancient times. Among ancient writers, one can find references to Crates of Mallus, who around 150 BC. ago created the "globe of the earth."

But still, the oldest of the globes that have come down to our times is the “earth apple”, which was created by Martin Beheim in 1492, a German geographer from Nuremberg. It is he who is considered the creator of the globe. Martin Beheim was a prominent German scientist in the 15th century.

His knowledge is in sea expeditions and with the great astronomers of that time. When working on the "apple", Martin used materials from the famous traveler Mark Polo and the Portuguese, with whom he sailed along the coast of West Africa in 1484.

Subsequently, he received the position of court cartographer and astronomer in Lisbon, and it was to him that Christopher Columbus came for advice before his main discovery.

In 1490, while in his native city of Nuremberg, Martin met Georg Holtzschuer, a lover of travel and geographical science, a member of the city council.

Georg was inspired by Beheim's stories about his African expedition and persuaded him to create a globe that would display all the knowledge of that modern cartography. For those times it was a truly great discovery.

Work on the globe or "Earth apple", as the scientist himself called it, dragged on for four whole years. The parchment-covered metal ball was painted by a local artist from maps Behaim gave him.

The globe was marked with the borders of states and seas, as well as the coats of arms and flags of many countries, as well as elements of the starry sky, the equator, meridians, the south and north poles.

But of course, the accuracy of this globe cannot be judged, since it was based on ancient Greek knowledge of the world. Therefore, all the locations of land objects on it are very approximate. America is also not depicted on this globe, since when the globe was completed, Columbus had not yet returned from his journey.

Subsequently, the globes were transformed, changed, more and more new knowledge brought from sea expeditions, simple travels or studies of great scientists was added to the images on it. But it was Martin Beheim's globe that became the main prototype for modern globes.

And yet, the "Earth Apple" is a unique exhibit, a landmark of the Nuremberg German National Museum. That is where it is still kept.

The invention of the globe is one of the greatest geographical discoveries. With its help, the locations of continents and oceans, islands and seas, tropical forests and icy deserts are easier to remember. This subject was created and improved by many scientists around the world. It has its own history, interesting and very ancient.

The history of the globe

In Latin, globe means ball. They came up with it twice. For the first time, the inventor was attracted by love not at all to geography, but to poetry, and this happened even before our era, in the 2nd century.

Who Invented the Globe? The philosopher and philologist - Krates Malossky, could listen to the poem "Odyssey" for days on end, and then plot the routes of the protagonist on the map. But this was not enough for Crates, because at that time it was already known that the earth has a round shape. He took and painted the ball. It was he who first invented the globe.

This globe corresponded to the level of knowledge of that time, but still it was a real globe. Contemporaries appreciated his invention, but after a few centuries, the descendants forgot the globe of Crates.

Secondarily, a copy of the earth was invented in 1492 in the city of Nuremberg. It was created in order to visually show the geographical discoveries of Portuguese sailors.

The title of inventor was given to the scientist Martin Beheim. This globe was called the "Earth Apple" - a metal ball no larger than half a meter in diameter. It did not yet have America, since the discovery of Columbus took place much later. There were no indications of latitude and longitude, but there were meridians and tropics, as well as a brief description of the countries. Now the very first globe is carefully kept in the Nuremberg Museum.

A great many globes have been created, of the most unexpected sizes, from different materials and designs. But there are two instances that cannot be ignored.

The largest globe in the world

A giant globe called Eartha was created by DeLorme, a company that develops maps and GPS navigation systems. Its diameter is 12.6 meters, which is comparable to a four-story house. This creation is located in the USA, in the city of Yarmouth.

The globe consists of 792 map fragments. All of them are fixed with hidden bolts on a huge frame made of 6,000 aluminum pipes. But its zest is not only in scale. It is located in a glass building, at night it is illuminated from the inside - this is a truly memorable sight.

On weekdays, everyone can take a picture of themselves against the backdrop of a huge map of the world. In addition, the masterpiece is listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

America's Oldest Globe

Scientists have established that the globe is made of two halves of an ostrich egg glued together with a natural polymer (shellac). The map is carved on an eggshell, and the carving itself is covered with blue paint. It was not possible to accurately establish the creator, there were no signatures on the subject. Researchers suggest that the globe is related to the workshop of Leonardo da Vinci. There are sketches that resemble his work. It depicts: continents signed in Latin, various animals and even a shipwrecked sailor.

Map collector and philologist Dr. Missine dates the find to 1504. And according to him, this globe is the first of those on which America was marked, and which has survived to our time.

Despite the huge number of versions of travelers and ancient thinkers about the shape and contents of our earth, the famous philosopher Aristotle was the first to provide evidence of its sphericity. Over time, science needed more detailed materials for further discoveries related to the earth.

Thus, a successful attempt was made to create such an object that would become a good example for obtaining all the necessary information about our land. This model was called a globe, which has the Latin name "globus" - a ball.

Using three-dimensional graphics, modern man has received a realistic three-dimensional image of the globe. A similar copy of the earth, which is millions of times smaller than it,

In fact, the ball is slightly flattened. Its color characteristic consists of blue (reflects the presence of water space on the earth's surface), green (shows where the land is), white (this is the territory of ice), brown (designation of continents) and yellow. The globe reflects the tilt of the earth's axis. It is around an invisible axis that the earth rotates. The imaginary axis has two outputs. The first top point represents the North Pole. The lower one is the South Pole. In fact, on earth, these points do not have a designation. The entire globe is divided into two parts due to the encircling line, which is called the equator. So people got an idea of ​​the northern and southern hemispheres. This line, like the axis, is not marked in reality. Meridians run from one pole to the other. Lines that run parallel to the equator are called parallels.

This invention has several types, the choice of which depends on the purpose of the research. You can learn about the borders of countries, settlements by considering a political globe. The physical reflects the continents, currents, meridians and parallels. The first acquaintance with a relief globe will interest you with a convex surface, which will visually help to remember the location of the mountains.

The creation of the globe was a great discovery in science, as scientists had the opportunity to explore the different patterns of all phenomena on earth. Thus, having in front of you the most important such invention - a globe, you can easily find out what and where exactly is on its surface, get acquainted with geographical patterns. This is an accessible location of geographical objects, which becomes a source of knowledge for everyone.

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One of the greatest discoveries in geography is the invention of the globe, which makes it easier to remember the location of the oceans, seas, continents, islands, tropical forests, icy deserts, etc. Subsequently, this amazing object was improved by numerous scientists around the world. It has its own ancient and rather fascinating history.

Who created the first globe? Around this invention, passions are still boiling.

What is a globe?

Globe is from the Latin word globus meaning ball.

This is an image of the map on the surface of the ball, preserving the similarity of the contours and the ratio of sizes (areas). There are geographic globes that display the surface of the Earth, the lunar surface, celestial globes, etc.

Before the concept of a spherical shape of the Earth appeared, the first celestial globes had already been created. These spherical images of the starry sky were already known in ancient Egypt.

The history of the globe

The first globe arose before our era (II century), and it was created by one inventor who was very fond of poetry. It was a learned philologist-philosopher named Krates Malossky. For days he could listen to the poem "Odyssey", and often after listening to it, he laid on the map all the routes that the main character walked. And at that time it was already known about the spherical shape of the earth, so he painted the ball.

Although this item corresponded to the level of knowledge of those times, it was a real globe. He was well appreciated by his contemporaries, but for several centuries, who was the author of the first globe was forgotten.

In 1492, another globe was created in Nuremberg (Germany) to visually depict the geographical discoveries of Portuguese sailors. Thus, the scientist Martin Beheim received the title of the first inventor of the globe.

That globe was called the "Earth Apple". It represented a ball made of metal, no larger than 50 cm in diameter. It should be noted that the continent America was still absent on it, due to its discovery by Columbus at a later time. Also, there were no latitudes and longitudes on the globe yet, but there were also tropics and meridians, and there was a short description of countries. Now the first globe (1492) is stored in the Nuremberg Museum.

From those ancient times to the present day, a large number of the most unique, even unexpected, globes have been created, with stunning sizes, designs and materials. But two of these specimens cannot but be mentioned here: the largest and most unusual and oldest.

Who created the first globe - the largest in the world

The American company DeLorme has created a giant Eartha globe. This organization develops maps and GPS navigation systems.

The diameter of the globe is 12.6 meters, which is the height of a 4-storey building. Now this unique creation is located in the city of Yarmouth in America.

The giant globe consists of 792 map fragments, fastened together by hidden bolts on a large frame. The last element was built from 6,000 aluminum pipes. The peculiarity of this magnificent building is also that it is located in a glass building and is illuminated from the inside, which gives it an unusual look.

This masterpiece is included in the Guinness Book of Records.

American oldest globe

Scientists have established that it is made from ostrich egg halves glued together with shellac (a natural polymer). The card itself is carved into the shell.

But to the question of who created the first globe depicting America, one can answer that this is unknown. Why?

The huge ostrich egg globe is the first to depict America, and it has survived to this day. But it was not possible to establish the exact date and its creator, due to the absence of any signs and signatures on the subject.

Scientists have an assumption that this globe was created in the workshop of Leonardo da Vinci, as there are certain sketches characteristic of the works of the great artist. The continents signed in Latin, various animals, and even a man-sailor who was wrecked are depicted on this object.

Dr. Missine (philologist and map collector) believes that the find dates back to 1504.

sky globe

Who created the first celestial globe? Many versions exist. For example, in Naples there is a statue of Atlanta (marble), dated to the 3rd century BC. On his shoulders, the hero holds a sphere with the image of constellations. There is an opinion that he also has a prototype - the globe of Eudoxus of Cnidus (Greek astronomer).

However, the existing information about the existence of the Earth's globes in the ancient period is not entirely reliable. So, there are many more reasons to argue about this.

In the works of ancient writers, it is mentioned that a certain Crates of Malos, an ancient Greek philosopher, follower of Aristotle and keeper of the Pergamon Library, was still in the 2nd century BC. e. made a model of the Earth in the form of a sphere. Neither this model itself, nor any of its images have survived to this day, however, those who saw this globe said that "Crates painted a single land on the ball, dividing it into parts by intersecting rivers, which were called oceans ...".

Therefore, the very first, at least the oldest of all surviving globes, is considered to be a spherical model of the Earth with a diameter of 54 cm, created by a German geographer, traveler and mathematician Martin Beheim in 1492, which is now in the Museum of the city of Nuremberg.

On the "Earth Apple", this is how Behaim called his brainchild (globes, from the Latin globus - "ball", copies of the Earth began to be called later), geographical representations of the Earth's surface on the eve of the discovery of the New World, based on data taken from world maps the ancient Greek scientist Ptolemy, who lived in the II century.

Soon after the appearance of the globes, which give the most accurate cartographic representations and are in great demand among scientists and sailors, began to appear in the palaces of monarchs, cabinets of ministers and simply fashion houses in Europe, becoming a symbol of enlightenment.

Especially popular were the Dutch globes made by the Amsterdam craftsmen Blau. They also created that model of the Earth, which was presented to the Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in 1672, the first in Russia. The most famous of all foreign models of the globe is the Gottorp globe with a diameter of 311 cm, made by the German scientist Adam Olschlegel in 1664, and presented to Peter I in 1713. Inside it contained a planetarium.

One of the most famous exhibits of the Kunstkamera is the unique Gottorp Globe Planetarium, created in the 17th century in Germany. It was presented to Peter I during the Northern War and brought to St. Petersburg in 1717. The diameter of the globe was 3.1 meters. Outside, it depicted all the countries known at that time, seas and rivers, and inside the globe, all known constellations were depicted - this was the world's first planetarium.

Modern globes, on which, compared to the first ones, images of new lands discovered since then have appeared, have moved from the field of functional use mainly to the field of visual aids for schoolchildren.