Today’s Google doodle marks the publication day of Abraham Ortelius’s “Theatrum Orbis Terrarum” (Theatre of the World) in 1570. Using information collected from scientists, geographers and cartographers, Ortelius’s work is credited as being the original modern atlas.
“Within these pages, we see the first evidence of someone imagining continental drift — the theory that continents were joined together before drifting apart to their present day positions,” writes Google.
Google says Ortelius was one of the first cartographers to credit his sources by listing the names of the original mapmakers within his collection.
From the Google Doodle Blog:
Google highlights this detail in its doodle celebrating Ortelius with the first map featured in the animated image.
The doodle leads to a search for “Abraham Ortelius” and is being shared on a number of Google’s international home pages around the world.
Contributing authors are invited to create content for Search Engine Land and are chosen for their expertise and contribution to the search community. Our contributors work under the oversight of the editorial staff and contributions are checked for quality and relevance to our readers. The opinions they express are their own.
