The Practical Surveyor: 09/19/07

I've had an idea bubbling around my head about a surveyor working on a world that is just one long valley walled on the northern and southern ends by a mountain range. I've decided to take my idea and use it for this year's Nanowrimo.

Knowing next to nothing about surveying, I did a quick search on Amazon for books. One that caught my eye, is this reprint of a book first published in 1725, The Practical Surveyor by Samuel Wyld. The book was pieced together from a extant copy in the Boston library and microfiche copy at the Museum of London. Although this book was re-typeset (and not photocopied as some "reprints" are), the font chosen keeps the old style of lettering so that it reads very much as it would have in 1725.

I realize that the technology modern surveyors use has changed since 1725 but the information contained in Wyld's brief manual still gave me an incredible appreciation for the science and mathematics behind surveying and filled my head with lots of ideas for my steam punk Nanowrimo. Although this book is heavy on geometry it still is one of the most interesting books I've read this month and I tore through it in about four hours.

Comments (1)

Comment #1: Thursday, September, 20, 2007 at 22:39:57

Linda R. Moore

Cool! I saw a few surveyor markers while in Nevada. I have nothing but admiration for these people."