The first thing to keep in mind is that ocean currents are very thin compared to the diameter of Earth. They’re only about four kilometers (13,000 feet) deep at most, and surface currents can be just ...

Back when mapmaking was still a fledgling profession in the U.S., cartographers had a trick up their sleeves: they would insert fake towns into the maps they drew. Not to screw up travelers trying to ...

Henricus Martellus, a German cartographer working in Florence in the late 15th century, produced a highly detailed map of the known world. According to experts, there is strong evidence that ...