Land surveying is among the oldest professions in the world. Ever since man has decided that a portion of land should belong to a tribe, the necessity for surveying began.
Land surveying is fascinating. The methods used seek to choose which section of land belongs to whom, hopefully ending arguments once and for all.
The bottom line is, surveying is a process using mathematical means to survey land.
The first accounts of surveying land dates back to ancient Egypt. Experts have discovered evidences that the ancient Egyptians used basic geometry to redraw the lines of boundary when the Nile River overflowed. An Egyptian land register dating back 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. These were called agrimensores, generally known as Corpus Agrimensorum Romanorum. Although they used very easy tools, they were very thorough making use of their jobs and would create straight lines and correct angles by using these tools. After the lines were measured, they would create shallow ditches to mark the lines. In fact, a few of the furrows they made still exist 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 quantity of information during this time, the pieces of information were not 100% correct. The locations were not accurate and the maps were not made to scale.
Among history's greatest icons was also a devoted surveyor - Napoleon Bonaparte. The interest in surveying land was really just something of his want to conquer the planet. Napoleon Bonaparte founded a registry called the cadastre. This includes a registry of properties of a county, ownership details, locations so when much information regarding the land's value. Yes, Napoleon Bonaparte can be viewed as a land surveyor - and an extremely smart man.
The techniques useful for land surveying have also evolved over the centuries. In the past, people would use anything that could help them determine the distance from one indicate another. This implies using chains with links and even ropes. Needless to say, this didn't give accurate results but they didn't have the technology we've back then.
Today, land surveyors have the best technologies to help them with their job. There's GPS, or Global Positioning System, which is probably the most accurate technologies being used today. https://landsurveysbristol.uk/best-laser-scanning-bristol/ are also essential to a land surveyor, which employs the usage of an EDM or Electronic Distance Measurement device along with a theodolite that allows for more precise angle and distance measurements.