theodolite

ORDERBY-NAME:   Theodolite

OTHER-NAME:

DATE INVENTED/BEGAN:  1533

PLACE INVENTED/BEGAN:  Leuven, Holland

DATE ENDED:

PLACE ENDED:

CATEGORY: Technology

DISCIPLINE: Precision Instrument

ASSESSMENT: In facilitating surveying and triangulation, the theodolite made possible major cartographic developments aiding the early exploration of the planet.

LANGUAGE: Dutch and English

DETAILS:  An instrument for measuring horizontal and vertical angles, the theodolite is essential for surveying and engineering work.  It is usually made up of a small telescope able to move horizontally and up/down.  When these movements are used to fix the telescope on an object, the vertical and horizontal angles to the object involved can then be read off the scales on the theodolite.

The theodolite was first developed to do triangulation.  In surveying,  after taking two sightings of a point from each end of a measured line the angles to the point would permit the surveyor to calculate how far away it was.  This idea was first used in 1533 by Dutch mathematician Gemma Frisius, later by <developed by> Snell* and perfected in the 1780s with the great instruments of <perfected by> Ramsden*

ONELINER:  The theodolite

EXTRA-CONNECTIONS:  None

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodolite#History

Encyclopedia Britannica