Literally meaning the science or practice of map-drawing (O.E.D.). The products of precise research, the first physically accurate maps were constructed in the early Renaissance with the development of navigational aids and effective mapping tools. The ‘scientific’ cartography that followed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, paved the way for nineteenth century expansion. Initially created for mercenary pursuits, maps marked out trade routes between Europe and the trading posts of the East, benefiting merchants who called for new accurate maps. Gerardus Mercator, the first cartographer to use longitude and latitude for sailors, aided the pursuits of traders with his map of the world.