我們的地球是如何形成的？這個問題自人類初始，就存在了。兩年前，我在倫敦見到了一位男士和一位女士，他們用簡單而特殊的方式回答了這個問題。
他們都是手工地球儀制造商，和他們製作的地球儀一樣，他們自身就是稀有動物。用科學方式製成的地球儀，不僅實用，而且是藝術作品。一個地球儀可能要花掉他們一週或幾周的時間才能完成。他們的客戶必須事先預定，因為這種手工地球儀在任何文具商店，即使是最專營商店都無法買到。據我所知，全世界只有三家手工地球儀制造商，我見識到了其中的兩家。
彼得。貝勒比先生創辦和管理的“貝勒比地球儀公司”，羅然妮。茹特女士的公司叫“迷你地球儀公司”。這兩個手工地球儀制造商的故事都很精彩。
彼得。貝勒比十幾年前還是一個管理保齡球館的，他並不知道有一天，他的命運會發生翻天覆地的變化。當他父親快過80歲生日的時候，他問父親想要什麼生日禮物。父親回答說：“手工製作的地球儀。”
在英國名畫中看到的地球儀
彼得四處尋找，無果。能找到的都是工廠機器製作的、大批次生產的地球儀。這些地球儀大都是塑膠製品，顏色俗氣，重要的是跟不上這幾十年政治格局的變化而導致的國家和地域的變遷。為了讓老爸高興，彼得決定自己動手做一個地球儀。
幾個月的努力工作，幾個月糾偏改錯，他給父親的禮物逐漸成型。他首先用巴黎石膏粉做成一個球體，同時購買精確地圖的版權，以此來製作地球儀的基本底稿；透過特殊軟體，標註和調整想要在地球儀上顯示的內容；再把地球表面“分屍”成一條一條貼片，在這些貼片上印出地圖圖文後，再貼上到地球儀的球體上，根據圓周定律，調整每一片的準確度。
經過多次實驗，他終於做出了一個足夠精確地球儀，還投資幾位畫師為地球儀上色，從而滿足了他父親的願望。然而，這個生日地球儀不是他做的唯一的一個和最後的一個，而是第一個。
經過9年的努力，貝勒比已經成為嫻熟的藝術地球儀制造商。出自他手的地球儀，已經被博物館購買、在歷史片中使用，甚至被有鑑賞力的收藏家收藏。其中對貝勒比要求最高的地球儀來自法國盧浮宮博物館。他被要求複製一個1680年義大利地球儀制作者為法國國王路易十四製作的一個直徑為3米的地球儀，用儲存在法國300年的刻板印刷。這個最終成品一直襬放在盧浮宮展示。
貝勒比工作室位於倫敦北部。一進到工作間裡面，看到的景象令人驚異。到處都是大大小小的、完工和未完工的地球儀，地球儀貼片像晾衣服一樣，掛滿了工作間屋頂上的繩索。地圖繪製者在電腦前忙活，美術家們在為地球儀表明塗色，年輕的工匠們將地球儀貼片粘在空白的球體上。
兩天之後，我又來到倫敦南部，見到羅然妮。茹特，拜訪她的“迷你地球儀公司”。與貝勒比的地球儀相比，羅然妮的地球儀呈現另一種風采，它們嬌小，並與眾不同。
羅然妮曾經是個地理學者，後來對製陶產生興趣。在她的小工作間裡，她製作的是迷你陶瓷地球儀。雖然地球儀的尺寸很小，但是依舊不失準確度。她的地球儀與地球的實際比例是1：170，000，000。她的地球儀呈現浮雕效果，大海是平的，高山是突出來的。
羅然妮的迷你地球儀深受1700年時期“口袋地球儀”的影響，然而，羅然妮的地球儀是經過1200攝氏度燒製成的陶瓷藝術品。這種小如蘋果的藝術地球儀，可以裝進一個小木盒子裡。
羅然妮根據我的要求定製的地球儀。在地球儀中國版圖上面有萬里長城，木盒子內部裝飾的是1584年世界第一部世界地圖集《寰宇全圖》中的中國地圖。
手捧一個這樣的地球儀，任何人都會說整個世界盡在手中。
當我手捧這樣一件藝術品時，我會欣賞到整個地球之美，然而我一旦失手，這個地球就會摔個粉碎。它使我意識到，我們生活的地球是多麼的脆弱。它就在我們手中，我們可以保護它，也可以毀壞它。
Meeting a Man and a Woman who’ve made the Earth
The question who or what made the world we live on has been a quest of humans since time began。 How was our world created？
In London recently I visited two people who answer this question in very similar but different ways。 The people I met are members of a tiny group of people who make miniature worlds in the shape and form of globes。 They make their globes as scientific artworks。 They may take weeks or months to make just one globe。 Their customers must order their globes， as these items cannot be found for sale in any store， not even in the most exclusive of stores。 The people I met run two out of only three hand-crafted globe-making companies in the world。
Peter Bellerby runs Bellerby Globes and Loriane Rutt runs The Little Globe Company。 Both globe makers have fascinating stories to tell。
Peter Bellerby， a Londoner， was running a ten-pin bowling alley just ten years ago。 Little did he know that his life was about to change dramatically by a question he asked his father， who was approaching his 80th birthday。 “What would you like as a birthday gift？” he asked。 The old man replied “A hand-crafted globe。”
Peter set about looking for the gift to please his father， but found nothing but factory-made， mass-produced globes。 They looked plasticky， gaudy and in many cases failed to reflect the latest political changes which have swept across out world in the last few decades。 At a lost to satisfy his father’s wish， Peter decided to try and make a globe himself。
Months of work and many mistakes saw him produce his father’s gift after making a sphere of plaster of paris， buying the copyright to an accurate base map， mastering software to make adjustments to the map， and then printing the map in segment like pieces or ‘gores’。 After printing the gores he then attached them to his globe， only to discover that any inaccuracy would now appear larger by a factor or ‘pi’， or 3。142。
After scores of attempts he finally made a globe that was accurate enough to invest further on — by hiring artists to hand colour it to his father’s wishes。
But this birthday globe was not the last he’d make， it was just the first。 Now with 9 years experience as a artisanal globe-maker， Bellerby globes have been bought by museums， for use in historical films， and by discerning collectors。 Bellerby’s most demanding commission came from Paris， where the Louvre Museum ordered a replica of a ‘Cornell’ globe dating from the 1680s that the Italian cartographer had made for King Louis IXV。 The gores （paper segments on the globe surface） for this 3-metre diameter ‘atlas’ globe were printed by engraved plates kept in perfect condition in France for the last 300 years。 The finished globe is set to be displayed in the Louvre。
Bellerbys studio in North London is full of globe moulds of different sizes and states of completion， gores hanging as if washing drying on lines‘ Cartographers sit busy on computers。 Artists patiently colour globe surfaces。 Young artisans glue gores on the blank globes。
Two days later I made a journey to South London to see Loraine Rutt who founded The Little Globe Company。 While some of Bellerbys globes are enormous and could not even be lifted by a Hercules， Loraine’s globes are tiny and very different。
Loraine is a geographer who became interested in ceramics。 In a tiny studio she produces tiny ceramic globes。 Yet， although tiny， she doesn’t compromise on accuracy。 At a scale of 1： 170，000，000 Loraine’s globes actually show the relief of the earth。 They are true relief models on which the seas are flat and mountains are high。
Loraine’s miniature globes were inspired by the pocket globes produced from the 1700s onwards。 These tiny artworks， about the size of an apple， were contained in small wooden cases。 Loraine does the same， but her globes are uniquely made of porcelain which is clay fired at approximately 1200 degrees Celsius。
Holding one of these globes， anyone can claim to have the whole world in their hands。 When you hold such an artwork， you see the earth’s beauty summarise。 If dropped it would smash into dozens of pieces。 It makes you realise how fragile the earth that we live really is。 It’s in our hands。 We can use our hands to protect it， or to damage it。