The projection can be computed as an oblique aspect of the Peirce quincuncial projection by rotating the axis 45 degrees. It can also be computed by rotating the coordinates −45 degrees before computing the stereographic projection; this projection is then remapped into a square whose coordinates are then rotated 45 degrees.[3]
The projection is conformal except for the four corners of each hemisphere's square. Like other conformal polygonal projections, the Guyou is a Schwarz–Christoffel mapping.
Each hemisphere is represented as a square, the sphere as a rectangle of aspect ratio 2:1.
The part where the exaggeration of scale amounts to double that at the centre of each square is only 9% of the area of the sphere, against 13% for the Mercator and 50% for the stereographic[4]
The curvature of lines representing great circles is, in every case, very slight, over the greater part of their length.[4]
It is conformal everywhere except at the corners of the square that corresponds to each hemisphere, where two meridians change direction abruptly twice each; the Equator is represented by a horizontal line.
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C.S. Peirce (December 1879). "A Quincuncial Projection of the Sphere". American Journal of Mathematics. 2 (4). The Johns Hopkins University Press: 394–396. doi:10.2307/2369491. JSTOR2369491.