TERRA AUSTRALIS INCOGNITA - THE UNKNOWN SOUTHERN LAND
The almanac has the purpose to collect and make available most of the currently known maps describing Antarctica - from antiquity until today. It also shows modern maps of the Icy continent, including topographical, geological, satellite images, maps of the ice surface and under ice surface of the continent, maps of various research bases, etc. Of course, special attention is devoted to the Bulgarian contribution to the mapping of Antarctica. The maps are divided into several periods reflecting their historical development.
The aim of this work is to promote the importance of maps and Geo-information and cartography worldwide and the development of cartographic methods for visualization of the surrounding world corresponding to the needs of society in a global and regional context. By tracing the history of the last still virgin continent, least affected by human activity, an effort has been made to draw public attention to its preservation and future operation, which is a sort of appeal for the preservation of its unique flora and fauna |
A quote from the book
"The mystic southern land has attracted seafarers and scientists since far-off antiquity. The existence of a large continent in the southern part of the globe, which ‘balances’the northern parts of Europe, Asia and North Africa have been mentioned for ages. Dating as far back as the IVc. BC, in his postulate about the Earth’s symmetry, Aristotle presumed that far to the south of the known world there existed the same amount of inhabited land. In the 2nd c. B.C. this southern land appeared on the first globe of the ancient Greek philosopher Krates. Ptolemeius (1st c. AD) also believed in the existence of Terra Australis – a large continent situated in the far south of the earth as an ántipode’to the northern European and Asian lands, which suggested the idea of symmetry of the whole known earth, wheras the Roman writer and philosopher Macrobius portrays it on his Map of the World – 5th c. AD."