Their work included a method for projecting these grids as well. Eratosthenes and Ptolemy then worked with a system of parallels and meridians to develop a grid system. Eratosthenes and Hipparchus came up with the idea of imaginary lines drawn horizontally across the surface of earth. Well before Ptolemy and around 300 B.C., Dicaearchus, a student of Aristotle, ran a line of orientation across the world map, from west to east through Gibraltar and the Island of Rhodes, Greece. Working Towards Representing the Earth on Paper Ptolemy built upon these ideas and others to piece together his own theories about the earth and the ways in which it could be represented. Moreover, the chief librarian at the library in Alexandria where Ptolemy spent most of his time was Eratosthenes whose early world map formed a template for Ptolemy’s later work. Euclid had completed much of his mathematical work and the geometric principles of lines, triangles, circles and other shapes became foundational to Ptolemy’s theories. By this time, a heliocentric theory in which the sun is at the center of a system of revolving planets had already been proposed by the Greek philosopher, Philolaus. Formative IdeasĪlthough Ptolemy lived during Roman times, he was a product of his Greek upbringing and was strongly influenced by ideas circulated by his contemporaries. In this intellectual space Ptolemy absorbed many ideas and put together his own theories about the earth, astronomy and other subjects including music and astrology. Who, do you suppose, was the first to come up with the concept of mathematical coordinates? Who first described a scientific method for identifying physical locations on a map? Claudius Ptolemaeus (Ptolemy AD 90-168) was a Greek/Egyptian astronomer, mathematician and scientist living and working during a very interesting time in Greek and Roman history.Īlthough not much is known of his early life, he spent much of his time in the celebrated library in Alexandria, home to some 700,000 books. Who were the pioneers that came up with some of the key foundational concepts and helped us get to where we are today? This blog marks CivilGEO’s launch into a series that looks at pivotal moments in geographic history. So we thought it fitting to explore this topic in some detail. The details of physical space and their importance to civil engineering projects form the cornerstone of our company, CivilGEO. In the field of civil engineering, maps, surveys and other sources of geographic reference are critical to a project, from start to finish. Our modern uses of maps include geospatial computer programming applications, 3D renderings and more. Roman maps charted ambitious military campaigns and vast networks of highways. The first Egyptian maps, recorded between 1550-1070 BC on papyrus, showed the Nile and its floodplains, irrigation channels and simple estate boundaries. Later drawings on clay tablets added additional features like rivers and small settlements. The first depictions of place by early civilizations, such as those found in the Lascaux caves in France dating back some 20,000 years ago, were carved in rock with simple lines and symbols. Throughout history, people have tinkered with some form of map making.
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