Customer Reviews

Practical Surveyor

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

 

 

In reading historical surveying works, the Practical Surveyor stands out as an useful guide and not a theoretical textbook. Although there is a slight amount of geometry in the beginning of the book, the bulk of the work relies
on basic math, without even the use of sines and cosines. Likewise, although a variety of surveying instruments are detailed, there are complete instructions for surveying with a chain only (which would work equally well with a measuring tape).

Modern electronic instruments have largely replaced old tools, and modern computers allow vastly more measurements to be used for improved precision and accuracy. While The Practical Surveyor won't supercede hiring a professional land surveyor, it is sufficient to teach a novice to confidently survey any plot of land.

The techniques for measuring with plane table, theodolite, or cirumferentor (staff compass) are as valid today as they were in 1725. Once measurements have been made, there are clear directions for drawing a map and calculating areas and other properties. An example is provided of a survey of a small farm, complete with field notes, a field book with all of the measurements, and a finished map.

Additional sections detail determining the difference in altitude between two locations, finding true north using either the sun or Polaris, coloring maps using watercolors with details on the specific pigment materials, surveying rivers and large towns, dividing land, and drawing perspective pictures with the aid of a theodolite. Mr. Wyld prefaces the work with a lively introduction.

The text is identical to the 1725 first edition. It has been re-typeset for clarity using the original font, spelling, and punctuation. The long s (which looks like an 'f' to modern readers) is used as per the original. The book includes reproductions of the original figures from six copperplates, all of the original advertisements, and all of the original woodcut illustrations.

I have written brief notes to accompany the text. These are all at the back of the volume so as not to interfere with the original work. The notes include a few corrections to some errors in the book, a list of all of the tools and instruments used, and a glossary of words. I hope that these are of use.

A great book! It's just what it calls itself: A practical guide. It skips the hard math and teaches you to use the instruments (which really haven't changed, except for computerized models) and draw maps. This isn't only quick-and-dirty surveying. You will learn to compensate for the curvature of the earth, find your position by the stars, convey water, draw objects in perspective...

Also gives historical insight into how and why land was used and subdivided, and rules of thumb that still affect modern land (why are roads and ditches the width they are? How are property boundaries placed, or re-discovered?)

If you want to learn to survey or are interested in historic land use, map-making or surveying, you need this book.

"The Practical Surveyor" by Samuel Wyld might best be thought of as the Practical Surveying for Dummies of it's time. Wyld writes in his preface that "[I]n Handling this, I have not chose the most Accurate Method I could think of, but rather the most Plain and Simple, as being most Agreeable to the Conception of a Stranger to the Art, to whom nothing can be too plain." Which is to say that the book is a hands-on guide for laymen and not a formal textbook for would-be professionals.

This volume comes to us essentially as Wyld intended. The contributing editor, David Manthey's idea was to preserve the book with all of it's original character. He writes: The text is identical to the 1725 first edition. It has been re-typeset for clarity using the original font, spelling, and punctuation. The long-S (which looks like an 'f' to modern readers) is used as per the original. The book includes reproductions of the original figures from six copperplates, all of the original advertisements, and all of the original woodcut illustrations.

Written in archaic language, and about an arcane topic, this book won't be for many people. It remains, however, an important work, especially considering how few original copies remain. And this accounts for it's star rating.

Pam T.
mom and reviewer for PageInHistory.com

As a civil engineer, I found the book quite interesting. However, the author's continual use of old English grammer, spellings, and capitalizations made for slow reading. After about three pages, I was looking forward to the next chapter, which I hoped would be in at least 20th century English. Alas, the entire book was in ye olde English. Too bad, because the information is both enlightening and fascinating.

As a land surveyor I found this book very interesting. If you practice in this profession it can be advantageous to understand how surveying was done in the past. Many of the concepts may prove useful in modern surveying. If you need to measure an inaccesible point, for example, you can use the geometry from this book, but I read it primarily for fun and for historical content. I would no longer consider this a practical guide to surveying, and I don't know how anyone could make that mistake since it was published 250+ years before the invention of GPS surveying and 230 years before EDM surveying instruments came into use. However, it does help understand how old surveys were performed.

Perhaps I didn't read the description closely enough. This book is a historical text, not applicable to today's surveying.

While this book might be interesting to the surveying expert I found it tiresome trying to translate Elizabethian English to modern text. I was hoping for some useful hands-on information you might find in old text but missing in the new stuff. This might be especially useful if you're working in a refinery and don't want to bother with permits to use electronic equipment; old optical methods are all there is then.

I don't really care if George Washington used this book or not. Unless you are a history buff avoid this book.He'd be the first to admit it: be practical.

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Thanks.

There is probably some very good information contained in this book and I wish I could read it. I managed about 3 pages before I gave up. The regretable use of the old english typeface and characters was a very tragic mistake by the publisher. The price of the book made it uneconomic to return, so sadly it will wind up one of the very very few books that I consign to the garbage can. What a waste of paper and ink. If only they had printed it so the average person today that is intested in surveying could read it, it would have been both a delightful and useful book.