THE ORTHOMORPHIC PROJECTION OF THE SPHEROID

Abstract

Chesterton did not, of course, intend this gibe to be taken literally. But the more we consider what he would doubtless have called the “Higher Geodetics”, the more we must conclude that there is some literal justification for it. Not only are straight lines straight. A sufficiently short part of a curved line may also be considered straight, provided that it is continuous (i.e. does not contain a sudden break or sharp corner), and provided we are not concerned with a measure of its curvature. Similarly a square mile or so on the curved surface of the conventionally spheroidal earth is to all intents and purposes flat. We shall achieve a considerable simplification, without any approximation, in the treatment of the present subject by getting back to these fundamental glimpses of the obvious, whether the formalists and conformalists accept them or not.

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