Customer Reviews

GPS for Land Surveyors

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I found Mr. Van Sickle's book to be very concisely written yet full of practical "how tos". The flow from concept to concept is well though out. He shows his vast experience and knowledge of the subject on nearly every page. There are however, some large scriveners errors which are too large to be considered typographical errors (sometimes a whole sentence or paragraph is unrecognizable). In some cases these errors detract greatly from the content since it hard to know what he is saying. One aspect of Mr. Van Sickle's style is his ability to explain a concept, albeit difficult for most to understand, using common words and phrases. Generally, I liked the book and would recommend it as a basic part of your GPS library. One should experience various aspects of a subject from all directions to be able to fully understand anything. I will confess to learning a number of things from Mr. Van Sickle's book mostly due to his easy literary style which I had not previously understood. I have used the book as a textbook for two semesters and will continue to do so. I only hope that there is a new corrected edition available soon.

Jan presents a very concise and complete book on the intricate details involved with all aspects of GPS, from the GPS satellite signal structure itself to the applications of the Land Surveyor in implementing this technology. This book is a great learning tool for Land Surveyors interested in learning more about the who,what,where,and why's on GPS Surveying.

I found Mr. Van Sickle's 2nd edition book to be an expansion, correction and update of the 1st edition (previously reviewed). The book now has nine chapters and includes a new one on "real-time". Various corrections and updates have been placed into print which were greatly needed. The book "boils down" GPS into its basic components and explains difficult aspects in a more understandable fashion. The new, larger illustrations are generally more easier to see and of a better quality than before. Mr. Van Sickle has added questions and answers at the end of each chapter making the book more useful in the classroom. Generally, I liked the new book and would recommend it as a basic part of your GPS/Surveying library. I intend to use the book as a textbook for my upcoming semester and I know that the students will like it as much as I have, especially with the new self-checking questions and answers at the end of each chapter.

I have just completed reading the 3rd edition of this book.

On the plus side, it offers a good introduction to the topic of GPS for land surveyors, and I believe this was the author's intent. Many of the diagrams are good and help to illustrate the concepts well.

On the down side, there are several typos, and some editing in this respect would be an improvement. I noticed this especially with respect to the multiple choice questions at the end of each chapter. Answers are given with written explanation, however several of the answers do not match the explanation.

Also, as a land surveyor, having no working experience with GPS equipment (other than handheld consumer grade units) I was hoping that this book might have offered a little more of a "hands on" or "how to" characteristic, with practical examples. However, I found it to be more on the broad theoretical side, and even lacking the intricate details of the theory - in short an introduction.

The subject matter is broad and the technology rapidly changing. The author does a good job introducing the subject, and I'd recommend it as a first step in a surveyors education about GPS.

Jan, is a very talented individual. From his acting, to his recitals of Shakespeare, this book is a testament to his ability to distill the essence of a deeply scientific subject and reduce it to bite-size chunks of information, suitable for those lesser mortals.

Apart from being an all-round good bloke, Jan has done an excellent job and I would highly recommend it to all readers wanting a deeper understanding of this technology, without their eyes glazing over with complex formulae and math. Well done Jan.

The book is excellent. It could be very helpful for people involved in environmental and engineering issues and has to solve or deal with problems in which GPS equipment can make things easier. The chapter about Coordinates is dealt in a clear way and can be understood by anyone with basic knowledge on earth sciences.