covering a sphere with patches

Can someone direct me to an algorithm for covering a sphere with patches of equal area for the purposes of illustrating the surface integral in Gauss's law? I've tried three so far and can't get good results. The problem is mostly with the poles and in the foreshortening of the patches near the poles. Is there a standard algorithm for this somewhere? Rectangular surfaces are easy.

Joe Heafner
Sent from one of my Macs


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