All About the Inception of Surveying
The art and science of measuring distances and angles either on or beneath the surface of earth is referred to as land surveying. This process related to the acquisition of data relating to the physical characteristics of the earth particularly the relative position of points and the magnitude of areas. The surveying history dates back about five thousand years back and the evidence reveal that land surveying took place in China, India, Babylon and Egypt.
The initial Egyptian surveyors were called as Harpedonapata. The Egyptians made the tight ropes and the knots which would be tied at pre determined intervals so that they could measure the distances with ease. The instrument which is used for leveling is made out of three pieces of wood in the shape of a right angled triangle.
The Pyramids were made out using knotted ropes, simple levels and water trough levels for the foundation. The Egyptians were in the practice to use this technique on the field on the other hand the researches done by the Greeks established the relationship between mathematics and surveying. Thus there was great usage of these geometric principles in the surveying.
In around 250 B.C., the Physician Archimedes measured the circumference of earth as 30 myriads of stadia. The term Stadia is a former measure in the Greek system of measurement which is equivalent to 202 yards or approximately 185 meters. Another researcher by name Eratosthenes backed this notion and with the help of some mathematical calculations, the sun and angles, came to the conclusion that the circumference of earth is 25000 miles and in reality today the estimated circumference of earth is 24881 miles which is very much close to the value which they had recorded during that time. As far as the Greeks are concerned they used chorobate for the purpose leveling.
The navigation skills were needed for voyaging. Lodestone was the first magnet used for the location of magnetic north and on the other hand the magnetic compass was developed. Thomas Digges invented a 360 degree instrument which had been useful to measure the angles. During the end of the 1500 Jean Praetorius invented the plane table which had been in usage till the 1900s. The surveying procedures of triangulation were developed in 1660s with the help of a telescope attached to a four sided figure; this was used for the purpose of measuring angles. Other instruments which proved to be very useful for the purpose of ocean navigation were the sextants. They were precision instruments made out of brass or aluminum. They measured the angle accurately between the different celestial bodies. The sextants are even used today for the purpose of ocean navigation.
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