Atlas

An atlas is a bound collection of maps and other geographic information, sometimes including text such as introductions, indices, and statistics. The word atlas comes from the Greek mythological figure Atlas, who bears the heavens, and was popularized by Gerardus Mercator in his 1595 Atlas sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figurae.

Maps have appeared since ancient times, but the modern atlas developed in the Renaissance as cartographers organized large numbers of maps into a single volume. Earlier works include Ptolemaic and medieval compilations; Mercator’s atlas set a pattern for map collections with standardized projections and an index.

Atlases vary in scope: geographical or wall/road atlases for navigation; nautical atlases for mariners; and thematic or statistical atlases focusing on climate, population, or economy. There are also anatomical atlases that compile diagrams of the human body; astronomical and planetary atlases that map stars, planets, and surface features of other worlds.

In the digital era, atlases are produced as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), online maps, and interactive web applications. Digital atlases support search, layering, and analysis, and are used in education, planning, research, and industry. The term is also used metaphorically for collections in other fields, such as an atlas of medieval manuscripts or a genetic atlas.