History of Surveying and Measurement

Introduction

Background

International Institution for the History of Surveying and Measurement is a Permanent Institution within the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG). For some years it operated within one the nine commissions of FIG but as from the Congress held in Brighton in 1998 it was deemed an International Institution. Using contacts among the 80 or so countries that are part of FIG it aims to bring together interested people who are keen to preserve the heritage of the profession.

Its aims are to:

  1. Study the history of surveying and measurement, and the techniques and instrumentation  involved

  2. Preserve documentation related to the history of surveying and measurement and catalogue  their locations.

  3. Publish papers, books and articles on subjects related to the history of surveying and measurement

  4. Promote the subjects by holding regular symposia around the world

  5. Cooperate with other learned societies who share a common interest in the history of surveying and measurement, including mathematics, geodesy and astronomy

 

From Dialling. W Leybourn, 1700. Courtesy Jan de Graeve.