This is a response to a "fact check" that Reuters published on October 27, 2022.

In your fact check about Alexander Gleason's map found here, you stated the map has been misinterpreted.

I would like to bring to your attention the fact that you have also misinterpreted Gleason's patent by replacing the word "extorsion" with "extortion," thereby reaching the conclusion that the map was "extracted" from the existing globe maps.

Let's compare your quote with what actually appears on the patent you referred to:

Yours:

“The extortion of the map from that of a globe consists, mainly in the straightening out of the meridian lines allowing each to retain their original value from Greenwich, the equator to the two poles.” (emphasis supplied)

Actual statement:

The change of that one letter from "s" to "t" has completely changed the meaning.

extorsion

noun

ex·tor·sion ek-ˈstȯr-shən, ˈek-ˌ

: outward rotation (as of a body part) about an axis or fixed point

compare intorsion

https://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/extorsion

extorsion

noun

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