One of the legendary map makers of the world, Guillaume Delisle brought many modern and effective changes in cartography. Born on 28th February, 1675, Guillaume Delisle inherited his father – Claude’s cartographic talents.

Guillaume Delisle’s father was himself an accomplished cartographer and teacher. His first map appeared in a manuscript in the year 1696. Taking advices from his father, Guillaume Delisle rose to fame with his earlier works like Map of the Continent and Map of the World. Those works were published in the year 1700. Along with these, he is also popular for his terrestrial maps.

Honors and laurels followed Guillaume Delisle and he became the first ever royal geographer of the French court. He was chosen as the eleve in the year 1702. Soon he was promoted to the position of the adjoint in the year 1716. In 1718, Guillaume Delisle became the associe of the academie des sciences.

Guillaume Delisle took several reformative measures to make the maps more accurate and informative. He introduced the method of using measuring scales and marking important landmarks on the maps to make them more attractive and elaborate. To achieve his end, Guillaume Delisle embarked on extensive research on books of travel.

Some of Guillaume Delisle’s notes were published in the writings of the academy. He lived in Paris till his death in 1726.