How a Famous Renaissance Cartographer Imagined The North Pole

His name still adorns many maps but this idea was just odd

Mercator pointing to the north pole (Public domain)

Gerardus Mercator is one of the most famous cartographers in history. His work is highlighted by his projection, the Mercator Projection, that is still used in map making to this day. Mercator’s 1569 map of the world was one of the best received maps of his era…