Who decided that north was up and south was down in the universe?

Question

Seriously... who made that decision? South could have just as easily been up.

Star this if you find it interesting please!

Answer 1

Lol, technically North is not up... and South is not down... that's just our perspective is we look at a map or globe.  You could be going downhill, but still going north.  Whoever got to solving the mystery of the earth probably decided this.

Answer 2

A lot of early maps were made with South on top, or East, or Jerusalem, or Rome, or whatever.  The notion that north should always be up and east at the right was established by the Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy (90-168 AD). "Perhaps this was because the better-known places in his world were in the northern hemisphere, and on a flat map these were most convenient for study if they were in the upper right-hand corner," historian Daniel Boorstin opines.  Mapmakers haven't always followed Ptolemy; during the Middle Ages maps often had east on top -- whence the expression "to orient." But north prevailed over the long haul.

Answer 3

A very interesting question

I think it was just a matter of naming like sugar or salt for the substance that gives particular sensation.

thnks

Answer 4

It was me

Answer 5

ya i have often asked the same about letters and numbers, like why doesnt A come fourth and M come first in the alphabet and stuff

Answer 6

Do you know that theoretically - you could be descending a mountain, and North would be down.

And, conversely, you could be ascending a mountain, and south could be up.