ABSTRACT
As early as the third century BC, Greek astronomers had established the sphericity of the planet. To represent this fact, the earliest terrestrial globe was created. This was done by gluing strips—known as gores—of a printed paper map onto a sphere generally made from wood. Almost none of these early globes have survived, though various ones were constructed in China and in Islamic countries. It appears that the earliest surviving globe was that created in Nuremberg, Germany in 1492—a momentous year—by Martin Behaim. It did not show America, but that was corrected in a globe made in 1507 by Martin Waldseemülller.
