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Miller Atlas

Miller Atlas is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Miller Atlas rather than just read about it. In short: The Miller Atlas, also known as Lopo Homem-Reineis Atlas, is a richly illustrated Portuguese partial world atlas dated from 1519, including a dozen charts. It is a joint work of the cartographers Lopo Homem, Pedro Reinel and Jorge Reinel, and illustrated by miniaturist António de Holanda.

Miller Atlas — main illustration
Miller Atlas — illustration

Key takeaways

  • Miller Atlas belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Miller Atlas to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Miller Atlas from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Miller Atlas, also known as Lopo Homem-Reineis Atlas, is a richly illustrated Portuguese partial world atlas dated from 1519, including a dozen charts. It is a joint work of the cartographers Lopo Homem, Pedro Reinel and Jorge Reinel, and illustrated by miniaturist António de Holanda. The regions represented are the North Atlantic Ocean, Northern Europe, the Azores Archipelago, Madagascar, Horn of Africa, the Indian Ocean, Indonesia, the China Sea, the Moluccas, Brazil and the Mediterranean Sea. It was acquired by the librarian Bénigne Emmanuel Clement Miller in 1855 at a bookseller in Santarém, Portugal, hence the name Miller Atlas. In 1897, his widow sold it to the National Library of France, where it has stayed ever since. It stands out for details of the map 'Terra Brasilis', less than twenty years after the landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral. It is thought to have been an offering from King Manuel I of Portugal to Francis I of France. The charts included and its authoring raised great controversy among scholars, particularly a world map closed to the Pacific Ocean, which has been interpreted as an attempt to dissuade the circumnavigation that Ferdinand Magellan then prepared in Seville, in the court of Charles I of Spain. It is argued by Robert J. King that Homem's map represented a stage in cartographical history when Ptolemy's enclosed Indian Ocean was enlarged to become an enclosed world Ocean until, following Magellan's expedition, it was recognized that the Ocean was much larger than the authority of the Biblical Fourth Book of Esdras had ascribed to it, and that indeed it did surround the continental parts of the Earth. The configuration of the map, with the world Ocean, under the names occeanus meridionalis and indicum mare, enclosed by the three classical continents, Europe, Asia and Africa, and the New World including the austral terra incognita, was apparently drawn from the description of the world given by Duarte Pacheco Pereira in 1508 and set out in his since lost map. Other world maps of this type are that shown on the 1525 tapestry by Bernaert van Orley and Georg Wezeler, and on the 1513 world map of Piri Reis. Its title page bears a later inscription with the arms of Catherine de Medici with the text, "Hec est universi orbis ad hanc usqz diem cogniti / tabula quam ego Lupus homo Cosmographus / in clarissima Ulisipone civitate Anno domini nostri / Millessimo quigentessimo decimo nono jussu / Emanuelis incliti lusitanie Regis collatis pluribs / aliis tam vetustorum qz recentiorum tabulis mag / na industria et dilligenti labore depinxi."

References

Illustrations

Miller Atlas: "Terra Brasilis" by Pedro Reinel and Lopo Homem, Miller Atlas, in the French National Library in Paris
"Terra Brasilis" by Pedro Reinel and Lopo Homem, Miller Atlas, in the French National Library in Paris
Miller Atlas: Map of the Atlas Miller showing the Indian Ocean
Map of the Atlas Miller showing the Indian Ocean

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Miller Atlas

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Miller Atlas claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Miller Atlas before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Miller Atlas ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Miller Atlas

In research
Miller Atlas appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Miller Atlas in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Miller Atlas is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1519 books, Atlases, Historic maps of the world, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Miller Atlas outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Miller Atlas in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Miller Atlas means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Miller Atlas out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Miller Atlas in simple terms?

The Miller Atlas, also known as Lopo Homem-Reineis Atlas, is a richly illustrated Portuguese partial world atlas dated from 1519, including a dozen charts. It is a joint work of the cartographers Lopo Homem, Pedro Reinel and Jorge Reinel, and illustrated by miniaturist António de Holanda.

Why does Miller Atlas matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Miller Atlas?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Miller Atlas.

Tags

  • 1519 books
  • Atlases
  • Historic maps of the world

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