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Article: The quintessential surveyor: students examine the work of Henry David Thoreau, writer and surveyor.
- Article from:
- Point of Beginning
- Article date:
- April 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 BNP Media. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Surveyors are often found tucked away in the quiet corners of history. Many figures that loom larger than life today once claimed surveying as a profession. The art of measurement, when practiced correctly, is as much philosophy as science in my view. A.C. Mulford, in his classic treatise "Boundaries and Landmarks" (1) described the attributes of a true surveyor: "Yet it seems to me that to a man of active mind and high ideals the profession is singularly suited... It is a profession for men who believe that a man is measured by his work, not by his purse..."
Writer, philosopher and surveyor Henry David Thoreau was such a man. To say Thoreau's mind was active ...