Gerhard Mercator (1512-1594) is considered the founder of modern cartography. With his invention of the Mercator projection, he was the first to successfully transfer the spherical shape of the Earth onto a two-dimensional map. Just narrowly escaping the Inquisition, Mercator left the Dutch city of Leuven in 1552 and sought refuge with his family in the liberal city of Duisburg. John Vermeulen describes the man behind the brilliant scientist, his life drama, his struggle against intrigue and ignorance in the century when the world was reinvented. A rich melodrama and an informative history lesson all in one.