Globe, in mathematics, a sphere; in geography, a spherical map. A globe having a map of the earth on the surface is called a terrestrial globe; one having a map of the heavens, a celestial globe. The earliest globe known dates from the eleventh century and is preserved in the national library at Paris. It was made of copper by the Arabs and is engraved with a map of the heavens. The oldest terrestrial globe with which we are acquainted was made by a geographer named Behaim about 1491-3. He had traveled as far westward as the Azores. It is still shown to visitors in the house of his ancestors at Nuremberg. It is twenty-one inches in diameter. It is made of pasteboard covered with parchment. It shows the equator, the two tropics, the polar circles, and gives such geographical information as was known to Marco Polo and Mandeville. It is especially interesting as representing the geographical knowledge of the world prior to the discoveries of Columbus. It shows that the spherical shape of the world was well understood, and that Columbus was not alone in his idea that by sailing westward he was bound to reach land sooner or later. A number of globes made soon after Columbus' first voyage are in existence. One preserved in the public library of the old French town of Nancy is considered a curiosity. It is about six inches in diameter and is made of chased silver. The land portions are represented by gilding, the waters by azure blue enamel. It dates from 1532. It still represents the New World as an extension of Asia. A globe of the year 1520 preserved in the town library of Nuremberg merits mention. It represents North America as a large island and South America as another. It is noted as the first geographical representation on which the word America appears. The name is applied to Brazil. It was some time before the term was applied to the western continent. Gerhard Mercator, a map maker of Louvain, is regarded usually as the earliest modern globe maker. His globes were sold at Nuremberg, at the book fairs of Frankfurt-on-the-Main, and in England. They were about two feet high and were mounted on stands with meridians, horizons, etc. One pair is still preserved in the royal library at Brussels; another in the court library at Vienna. A globe made apparently in Rome, bearing the date of 1542, is preserved in the museum of the New York Historical Society. The Academy of Science at St. Petersburg possesses a number of noteworthy globes. One of these is a hollow sphere eleven feet in diameter. It contains a seat and table for twelve persons. It was manufactured from designs found among the papers of Tycho Brahe. The outside is a terrestrial globe; the interior is furnished with a map of the heavens. The stars are represented by gilt-headed nails of various sizes. A pair of globes twelve feet in diameter, made in Italy in 1683, is preserved in the national library at Paris. A Frenchman by the name of Colonel Langlois exhibited a globe 121 feet in diameter in Paris in 1825. School globes are made generally of metal, plaster, wood, or pasteboard. Whatever the material may be, they are covered, usually, with paper of high finish, on which the map has been printed. Of late some effort has been made to represent physical features. In this, however, there is the danger to which all relief maps are subject, namely, that of exaggerating altitudes. The loftiest mountain chain in the world, when represented on a school globe or map, should not exceed the thickness of a sheet of paper in height. Globes are to be preferred to flat maps for school work. They give a much more accurate idea of rivers, for instance. With an accurate globe held in various positions, there is no danger that a pupil may get the notion that the Nile, the Rhine, and the St. Lawrence rivers run up hill. See GEOGRAPHY.