The science of surveying has had many practical applications throughout history. Surveyors map the land, helping to create accurate maps and to identify and establish boundaries. In addition, surveyors also help create navigational maps for both water crafts above and below the water surface. Surveyors also help plan the construction of roads, bridges, buildings and homes. With so many important tasks, it is easy to see why this job is so crucial to many industries. Here are a few notable facts about the history of surveying and a few of the most notable surveyors.
Surveyors use several special tools to help them do their work, and one of the most important tools you might see is a theodolite. This instrument is used to measure angles that are in either the vertical or horizontal plane. The first drawings of theodolites show up as early as the beginning of the 1500s, and English mathematician Leonard Digges developed the first true theodolite sometime before he died in 1559. However, the credit for developing the first modern theodolite with a sighting telescope is given to another Englishman, Jonathon Sisson, who created the predecessor to the modern theodolite in 1720.
There have been many famous surveyors throughout history, and three of our most revered presidents were surveyors. Most people know that George Washington was a surveyor, but Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln also worked as surveyors.
Obviously Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, who mapped out the Louisiana Territory, were skilled surveyors, as well. Other notable American surveyors include Benjamin Banneker, a self-educated mathematician and surveyor who help to survey the site of Washington, D.C. in the 1790s. Banneker was the son of two former slaves and was primarily self-taught. In addition to helping survey the Capitol, he was an inventor and an excellent astronomer.
While these surveyors were highly skilled, they did have the advantages of being able to use surveying equipment to complete their tasks. Ancient people, on the other hand, had no truly precise equipment yet still managed to accomplish amazing feats of construction. For example, England's mysterious Stonehenge was constructed thousands of years ago by surveyors and architects that clearly had a highly advanced set of surveying and geometric skills.
Other examples of artifacts that were constructed by using the skills of the earliest surveyors include many buildings constructed in ancient Egypt and ancient Rome. Using crude sighting and leveling instruments, as well as measuring ropes, these ancient people were able to construct roads, buildings and monuments.
Surveyors use several special tools to help them do their work, and one of the most important tools you might see is a theodolite. This instrument is used to measure angles that are in either the vertical or horizontal plane. The first drawings of theodolites show up as early as the beginning of the 1500s, and English mathematician Leonard Digges developed the first true theodolite sometime before he died in 1559. However, the credit for developing the first modern theodolite with a sighting telescope is given to another Englishman, Jonathon Sisson, who created the predecessor to the modern theodolite in 1720.
There have been many famous surveyors throughout history, and three of our most revered presidents were surveyors. Most people know that George Washington was a surveyor, but Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln also worked as surveyors.
Obviously Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, who mapped out the Louisiana Territory, were skilled surveyors, as well. Other notable American surveyors include Benjamin Banneker, a self-educated mathematician and surveyor who help to survey the site of Washington, D.C. in the 1790s. Banneker was the son of two former slaves and was primarily self-taught. In addition to helping survey the Capitol, he was an inventor and an excellent astronomer.
While these surveyors were highly skilled, they did have the advantages of being able to use surveying equipment to complete their tasks. Ancient people, on the other hand, had no truly precise equipment yet still managed to accomplish amazing feats of construction. For example, England's mysterious Stonehenge was constructed thousands of years ago by surveyors and architects that clearly had a highly advanced set of surveying and geometric skills.
Other examples of artifacts that were constructed by using the skills of the earliest surveyors include many buildings constructed in ancient Egypt and ancient Rome. Using crude sighting and leveling instruments, as well as measuring ropes, these ancient people were able to construct roads, buildings and monuments.
About the Author:
Carey Bourdier loves writing reviews on precision scientific instruments. For more information about surveying instruments such as a compass tripod, or to find other alignment instruments, go to the Warren Knight website today.
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