Sinusoidal

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Projection name: sinusoidal

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sinusoidal サンソン Проекция Сансона


  • Projection naming principle: Principle of Preponderance of Precedence.
  • Year of origin: 1570.
  • Name of originator: Jehan Cossin (Dieppe).
  • Originator reference:
  • Year of formulation:
  • Name of formulator:
  • Formula citation:
  • Projection synonyms:
    • Mercator equal-area
    • Mercator-Sanson
    • Sanson-Flamsteed
    • Sanson
    • シヌソイダル図法
    • 正弦曲線図法
  • Projection properties:
  • Projection derivatives:
  • Naïve specializations:
  • Generalizations:

Rationale

Several reasons support the name sinusoidal:

  • Alternatives attribute Sanson and/or Flamsteed, yet neither developed the projection.
  • The originator is not known with certainty.
  • The name is descriptive.
  • The projection is so obvious as to render attribution meaningless.
  • Modern texts surveyed preferred sinusoidal by a 1.25¹: 1² margin. As the 20th century progressed we see a strong shift toward sinusoidal. (Steers and Mainwaring did not commit to one name.)

Chronology of projection development

  • 1570: Cossin produces a world map based on the projection with verifiably sinusoidal meridians.
  • 1606: Jodocus Hondius (Amsterdam) uses the projection for maps of Africa and South America, presumably leading to the name Mercator equal-area.
  • ca. 1650: Nicolas Sanson d'Abbeville uses the projection extensively for maps of all continents.
  • ca. 1675: John Flamsteed (England) uses the projection extensively in astronomical maps and praises its accuracy in correspondence with Isaac Newton.

Notes

¹ A.H. Jameson & M.T.M. Ormsby, 1927; J.A. Steers, 1927; J. Mainwaring, 1942; G.P. Kellaway, 1946; National Geographic Society, 1947; C.E. Abelson, 1954; D.H. Maling, 1973; P.W. McDonnell, 1979; F. Pearson II, 1984; J.P. Snyder, 1989.

² M. d'Avezac, 1863; A.R. Hinks, 1912; M. Adams, 1914; C.H. Deetz & O.S. Adams, 1921; J.A. Steers, 1927; R.K. Melluish, 1931; J. Mainwaring, 1942; P. Richardus & R.K. Adler, 1972.