John P. Snyder, Date of Birth, Date of Death

    

John P. Snyder

American cartographer

Date of Birth: 12-Apr-1926

Date of Death: 28-Apr-1997

Profession: geologist, cartographer, chemical engineer

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Aries


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About John P. Snyder

  • John Parr Snyder (12 April 1926 – 28 April 1997) was an American cartographer most known for his work on map projections for the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
  • Educated at Purdue and MIT as a chemical engineer, he had a lifetime interest in map projections as a hobby, but found the calculations tedious without the benefit of expensive calculators or computers.
  • At a cartography conference in 1976, he learned of the need for a map projection that would suit the special needs of LandSat satellite imagery.
  • He had recently been able to purchase a pocket calculator (TI-59) of his own and set to work creating what became known as the space-oblique mercator projection, which he provided to the USGS at no charge. He was subsequently offered a job within the USGS within two years, where his work apparently led him to the eventual publication of the definitive technical guide to map projections entitled Map Projections: A Working Manual among other works.
  • He also authored Flattening the Earth: Two Thousand Years of Map Projections which details the historical development of hundreds of map projections.
  • Snyder developed at least one other projection, called GS50, which uses a complex polynomial to project the 50 U.S.
  • states with minimal distortion.
  • He taught courses on map projection at George Mason University.
  • He was president of the American Cartographic Association (now CaGIS) from 1990–1991 and also served as a secretary to the Washington Map Society. John Snyder died April 28, 1997.

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