Gerhard Mercator was an illustrious geographer and engraver of maps. He was a treacher of mathematics and astronomy, and was introduced to the court of Charles V for who he executed two globes. He was the first to draw a modern geographical map and he also invented the word ‘Atlas’. This work was completed in collaboration with Jodocus Hondius (1563-1611) and was published in 1594. Mercator is still regarded in such reverence that the university of Duisberg is named after him