Map Projections Used by the United States Geological Survey

Overview & Synopsis

This study of map projections is intended to be useful to both the reader interested in the philosophy or history of the projections and the reader desiring the mathematics. Under each of the sixteen projections described, the nonmathematical phases are presented first, without interruption by formulas. They are followed by the formulas and tables, which the first type of reader may skip entirely to pass to the nonmathematical discussion of the next projection. Even with the mathematics, there are almost no derivations, very little calculus, and no complex variables or matrices. The emphasis is on describing the characteristics of the projection and how it is used.