Mathematical Treasure: Lauremberg’s Surveying Books

Johannes Wilhelm Lauremberg (1590-1658) was a German cartographer and mathematician. In his Gromaticae Liber Tres (Three Books on Surveying) of 1640, he discussed the layout of roadways and the measure of land employing various units of measure.

A plate of illustrations on page 32 demonstrated techniques for surveying fields of varied shapes.

The images above are presented courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania Libraries.

Index to Mathematical Treasures