Defining one's land to show boundaries and knowing exactly how much land you own is as ancient as man himself. Land surveying methods and tools, as with any other profession, have evolved over the years. The ever present need for accuracy utilized those methods and tools, and some of the oldest invented are still in use today. From the crude tools used during the days of early civilization, to more recent history with the use of compass, transit and chain and complex math equations, to today's use of modern satellite and computer technologies, surveying tools and methods continue to change. These advancements allow the surveyor to gather more data with greater ease and produce more accurate results.
Today, the transit and chain have been replaced with the total station. The transit, appearing to a layman as a small telescope on a tripod, measures angles by sighting points through the scope and reading the plate at the base. Distances were measured with a steel chain, which was then replaced with a steel tape. The total station still employs the use of a scope, but the angles are measured electronically, and distances are measured by laser light reflected back to the total station by a mirrored prism.