Researchers Perplexed by Incredible Accuracy of Map of America Made by Monk in 1507

by Teresa Neumann : Dec 10, 2007 : David Alexander - Reuters

"How was he able to draw South America so accurately? Why did he put a huge ocean west of America years before European explorers discovered the Pacific?"

(Washington, D.C.)—The only surviving copy of a map made in 1507 by German monk Martin Waldseemuller, that first used the name America, will go on display soon at the Library of Congress. In many ways, the "stunningly accurate" map is still a mystery. (Photo: Reuters)

The questions perplexing researchers, according to a Reuters report, are: Why did the mapmaker name the territory America and then change his mind later? How was he able to draw South America so accurately? Why did he put a huge ocean west of America years before European explorers discovered the Pacific?

"The actual shape of South America is correct," said John Hebert, chief of the geography and map division of the Library of Congress. "The width of South America at certain key points is correct within 70 miles of accuracy. Given what Europeans are believed to have known about the world at the time, it should not have been possible for the mapmakers to produce it."

"This is...essentially the beginning or first map of the modern age, and it's one that everything builds on from that point forward," Hebert said. "It becomes a keystone map."