It's not often that you come across something on the internet that really makes you stop and go ".....wait, what?!" This is one of those times!

Fans of the West Wing will remember "Big Block of Cheese Day," when members of the president's staff have to take meetings with and listen to people from organizations that might not be at the top of the list. One of the groups that begs for the president's time is "Cartographers for Social Equality."

The premise of the episode is really funny, but it's actually based in fact. The Mercator Projection that we're used to seeing stretches the top and bottom of the map out, to compensate for the earth's spherical nature. Remember, we live on a globe!

All map projections are just that - projections - and are our best effort at stretching out the spherical earth onto a flat surface to look at all at once. The more you know!

More From