Who is traditionally regarded as the father of cartography?

• A. Claudius Ptolamaeus
• B. Gerard Mercator
• C. Eratosthenes
• D. Abu Rayhan al-Biruni

Answer: (A)

Claudius Ptolemy is traditionally regarded as the father of cartography. His Geographia organized geographic knowledge in a systematic, repeatable way by introducing a grid of latitude and longitude to locate places and instructions for constructing maps from those coordinates. This framework gave cartographers a shared method to translate the curved surface of the Earth onto a flat surface and to compile an atlas of known places, influencing mapmaking for centuries across different regions. While later figures like Gerard Mercator advanced mapping with improved projections, the enduring foundation comes from Ptolemy’s formal approach to geography and map construction. Other contributors enriched the field, but the standardized cartographic method anchored in his work is why he’s recognized as the father of cartography.