Concept in Definition ABC

Cosmography is understood as the science that is based on the preparation and analysis of maps of the globe. The word cosmography comes from the Greek, language in which cosmos means 'space', 'universe' and graphia means' representation ','graphic'. Thus, cosmography is nothing other than representation graph of the known universe, especially of the planet Earth in all its extension and also of the celestial vault. Cosmography is a very ancient science that has existed since man began to analyze the sky and through the stars could begin to know the extensions and forms of space. Cosmography has varied greatly through time according to the way in which maps have been made, but it has always been (and it continues to be) of great use to human beings because it is the science that shows them and allows them to know the planet as it is.

The ancients were already making primitive and simplified forms of cosmography when they delimited the territories they knew and made very simple (sometimes wrong) maps of the Earth. This science gained special importance from Modernity, at which time, thanks to European overseas expansion and the advance of

Commerce maritime, scientists had to develop increasingly accurate and complete maps for the use of sailors and mariners. One of the great advances in cosmography was the recognition of the roundness of the Earth that was far from the flat representation that used to be made of it on maps. This discovery served to understand that the map is nothing more than an artificial representation but very close to the earth's space.

Cosmography could be described as a science that takes into account many other sciences that are deeply necessary and important in the making of maps. Thus, sciences such as mathematics, geometry, the astronomy, the geography are essential to determine the shape, the scale, the boundaries and geographic events of the region to be represented, etc. Nowadays, and since always, maps have been of great use to human beings not only to better understand the level the shape and silhouette of a region but also to know its orographic and descriptive characteristics more important.

Topics in Cosmography