Navigation Chart — Questions and answers

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Who invented the revolutionary cylindrical map projection in 1569 that made open-ocean navigation easier?

Choices

  1. A Phoenician captain
  2. Gerardus Mercator ✓
  3. John Harrison
  4. A Genoese cartographer

Answer: Gerardus Mercator

From page 4

What important piece of information was still very difficult for sailors to find accurately at sea, even with Mercator charts?

Choices

  1. Their speed
  2. Their latitude (north-south position)
  3. Their longitude (east-west position) ✓
  4. The direction of the wind

Answer: Their longitude (east-west position)

From page 6

What invention by John Harrison helped sailors accurately find their longitude at sea?

Choices

  1. A faster ship
  2. A stronger compass
  3. A marine chronometer ✓
  4. A new kind of map paper

Answer: A marine chronometer

From page 7

What was a big benefit of using both Mercator charts and accurate chronometers?

Choices

  1. Sailors became more afraid of the ocean.
  2. Ships could only travel short distances.
  3. Navies and merchant fleets could sail farther, faster, and with less fear, expanding trade and exploration. ✓
  4. Maps became impossible to read.

Answer: Navies and merchant fleets could sail farther, faster, and with less fear, expanding trade and exploration.

From page 8

What modern system combines digital charts with GPS for navigation today?

Choices

  1. Portolan charts
  2. An ancient compass
  3. Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) ✓
  4. Paper maps only

Answer: Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS)

From page 9

According to the maritime historian, what is the navigation chart perhaps humanity's most profound tool for?

Choices

  1. Drawing beautiful pictures
  2. Understanding and traversing our world ✓
  3. Making the world bigger
  4. Creating new mysteries

Answer: Understanding and traversing our world

From page 10