Curious tales for quiet nerds
After surveying this location over the summer, using 15th century technology, I was finally able to take the data and make the final illustrated map! For those cartographers in the crowd, I was basing my restrictions on world maps of the time, which would have little to no capacity for pinpointing the coordinates for non-land-based …
Conditions have not been great for conducting a survey, heat smoke, and now the local peoples are carrying out some sort of construction project. But it’s been a great time to get some practice in, sighting horizontal distances! There’s some math involved, but it’s actually very simple and requires only one formula. Using an astrolabe …
I was running calculations, and wondered… what was running calculations like in the 15th century? This was the end of the Middle Ages, so we certainly didn’t have calculators or computing machines yet. The Basics Sailors of the Middle Ages were running fairly simple arithmetic, so they’d mostly rely on head or finger math. You …
Day 2 became days 3, 4, 5… I’ve learned a lot about this tiny patch of green over the past few weeks! There seems to be a weird Bermuda Triangle situation going on with part of the trail. All of my compasses go wacky, and I have to start over. Furthermore, since I can’t pin …
Heading out on the first clear day, I thought it would be wise to take the whole area first, staking out the boundary lines. I started on one edge, and picked out a defined marker, as the forest seemed to stretch on wildly beyond that point. I used a method of measuring by gait, where …
I did some poking around the site, and decided it safe enough to map; no crocodiles or giant rocs attacked during any part of the trip. Once that decision was made, it seemed like a good idea to find out where I was! So I hooked up the astrolabe and headed outside. Blessedly it was …
My next two tools have to do with measurement! When you do official land measurement, it’s important to use pre-measured chains or ropes that you can lay down evenly. For informal mapping though, it’s easy enough to either use a pre-measured length of rope OR… The power of feet! I actually measured my gait by walking …
On my mapping adventure, the compass is the real star of the surveying show! With a compass you can: – Find horizontal angles (super important) – Calculate which direction you’re facing – With an extra-fancy compass, you can also measure vertical angles accurately, so you can find elevations (the height of a feature) or even …
I wanted to start this series with the single-most important tool for surveying an area and making a map. My first thought was the compass, but on second thought, the most important tool of all is… well, the most “boring:” The notebook. Especially important in the early days of mapping, the log book contained all …
Beginning my quest to map a local nature reserve with pre-1500s mapping tools (learn more here), the first hurdle is figuring out exactly what I need. The first step is to figure out how areas were mapped in the 15th century. Really, you just pick a starting point, measure the angle and distance to another …