Using sighting devices and lengths of rope, they employed mathematics, geometry, logic, and deduction to reconstruct boundaries with great accuracy following annual floods of the Nile River. Accuracy remains paramount to professional surveyors today. Exact descriptions of land are essential to orderly and peaceful development of civilization. For that reason, surveyors have been on the leading edge of exploration throughout history. Locations and boundaries of homes and ranches, roads and cities, states and nations all depend upon the skill and accuracy of surveyors.
Attorneys often use a surveyor's services when legal questions arise.
Surveyors may testify in court cases as expert witnesses when necessary. Surveys also provide essential information to almost everyone involved in land ownership or development. Architects, developers, builders, planners, and engineers use topographic survey maps to determine street layouts, drainage, and other features. A survey also should be done before land is subdivided, developed, or improved. Information obtained from a survey not only helps protect parties involved in legal transactions, surveys also provide data needed for the most efficient and profitable use of land.