History
The stereographic projection was known to Hipparchus, Ptolemy and probably earlier to the Egyptians. It was originally known as the planisphere projection. Planisphaerium by Ptolemy is the oldest surviving document that describes it. One of its most important uses was the representation of celestial charts. The term planisphere is still used to refer to such charts.
It is believed that the earliest existing world map created by Gualterious Lud of St Dié, Lorraine, in 1507 is based upon the stereographic projection, mapping each hemisphere as a circular disk. The equatorial aspect of the stereographic projection, commonly used for maps of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres in the 17th and 18th centuries (and 16th century - Jean Roze 1542; Rumold Mercator 1595), was utilised by the ancient astronomers like Ptolemy
François d'Aiguillon gave the stereographic projection its current name in his 1613 work Opticorum libri sex philosophis juxta ac mathematicis utiles (Six Books of Optics, useful for philosophers and mathematicians alike).
Read more about this topic: Stereographic Projection
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