Land surveying is one of the oldest professions in the world. Ever since man has decided a part of land should participate in a tribe, the need for surveying began.
Land surveying is fascinating. The methods used seek to decide which section of land belongs to whom, hopefully ending arguments forever.
The bottom line is, surveying is a process using mathematical methods to survey land.
The initial accounts of surveying land dates back to ancient Egypt. Daylight Analysis Barnsbury have found evidences that the ancient Egyptians used basic geometry to redraw the lines of boundary once the Nile River overflowed. An Egyptian land register dating back to to 3000 BC was also found.
Following Egyptians, the Romans - also one of the most powerful civilizations of the ancient world - practiced land surveying. They took it one step further and made "land surveyor" the official position within the Empire. They were called agrimensores, also referred to as Corpus Agrimensorum Romanorum. Although they used very simple tools, they were very thorough making use of their jobs and would create straight lines and correct angles by using these tools. Following the lines were measured, they might create shallow ditches to mark the lines. In fact, some of the furrows they made remain today.
One of many recorded land surveying of the "modern" times is that of William the Conqueror who wrote the Domesday Book in 1086. This book is actually a list of names of land owners, the quantity of land they owned and other information about the land. While it was an amazing level of information during this time, the pieces of information weren't 100% correct. The locations were not accurate and the maps weren't made to scale.
Among history's greatest icons was also an avid surveyor - Napoleon Bonaparte. The fascination with surveying land was actually just a product of his desire to conquer the world. Napoleon Bonaparte founded a registry called the cadastre. This includes a registry of properties of a county, ownership details, locations so when much information about the land's value. Yes, https://diigo.com/0wija3 can be considered a land surveyor - and an extremely smart man.
The techniques used for land surveying also have evolved on the centuries. In the past, people would use anything that may help them determine the distance from one point to another. This implies using chains with links and even ropes. Of course, this didn't give accurate results but they didn't have the technology we now have back then.
Today, land surveyors have the best technologies to help them making use of their job. There is GPS, or Global Positioning System, that is one of the accurate technologies being used today. Total stations are also very important to a land surveyor, which employs using an EDM or Electronic Distance Measurement device along with a theodolite which allows for more precise angle and distance measurements.