Though you may find surveyors in North Wales and places all around the world these days, it was 3000 years ago where the practice of surveying first started in ancient Egypt. Although it’s moved on a lot in the three millenniums since Cleopatra’s heyday, the basic principles have stayed the same.

At its essence, surveying simply refers to determining whether land is suitable for a structure to be built upon and was predominantly used for mapping land boundaries, distances and land dimensions but is not so prominent in modern times because of already recorded materials.

Here are some of the more interesting facts you ought to know about all things surveying.

• In ancient times, Greeks and Romans were held up as geniuses as they were responsible for the excellent work of buildings and coliseums which still stand to this day.

• The earliest known tool for surveying was something called a Groma; quite rudimentary by today’s standards. Although it was used exceptionally well in Greece and Rome, it actually originates back to 400 BC in Mesopotamia (Iraq, to you and me). Made of a staff that has a crossbar for measuring right angles, it was ahead of its time.

• Are you familiar with someone by the name of Jesse Ramsden? No doubt all surveyors are as he is lauded as being one responsible for one of the breakthrough innovations within the field. The circular dividing engine allowed many more surveying tools to be built to advanced details and it’s an advancement that is still widely-recognised as groundbreaking.

• Now this name you almost definitely should now. Captain James Cook is one of the most famous surveyors of all time. What for, you say? Just the simple matter of being the first person to survey every ocean in the world before anyone else. As one of the first people to ever step foot on all continents of the globe, Cook is a revered name in geography.

• Presidents of the United States of America have an affinity with land surveying, it would seem. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Daniel Boone amongst others well all surveyors before their presidential careers. Plenty is known about Washington’s early years as a junior surveyor before he went on to become the primary surveyor for Culpeper.

• Do you remember when the Sydney opera House commemorated its 40th anniversary with a gigantic 3D model of its interior and exterior? This was all thanks to a team of Scottish surveyors who used digital equipment and to this day, their work is still referenced for any renovations to the historic building.

• Ever wanted to be a surveyor yourself but don’t want to mess around with the qualifications and education? Then pick up a copy of a videogame such as Skyrim which allows you to explore a huge landscape and mark areas, uncover locations and capture territories. It’s definitely the next best thing!

"Coliseum at night" by www.flickr.com/photos/tinou, license: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0