can you find ur way home??

Many early explorers use geomatics to map their journey … on sea or land. Explorers usually are equipped with the knowledge of mapping and geomatics… they bring along mappers and navigators... altering maps as they discover. Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) unknowingly… discovered Americas. Sir Francis Drake’s (1540-1596) first voyage around the world is truly an amazing feat... sparking the British dominance of the seas... and without his geomatics instruments there is no way to navigate lah. Bartolomeu Dias' (1450-1500) discovery of the Cape of Golden Hope and Vasco da Gama ‘s (1460-1524) voyage to India are fine examples of the geomatics marvel and changing the course of the world's history. Lets not forget the torturous journey Ferdinand Magellan's (1480–1521) took to discover new routes. Brave and brilliant men.



Today's examples are… modern nautical charts, world maps, cadastral (land parcel) surveying, geological surveying or contour mapping... there are so many others too… built environment kinda surveying like bridges, roads, buildings… cool huh. This is like a whole new ball game in getting accurate readings of where we are in this universe. Sadly…sometimes the more accurate these drawings become… it actually turns into skillful drafting work… the artistic touch is lost when it becomes too technical.

Ask yourselves again… How do you navigate in the seas… no point of reference?? How did they sail at night?? How did they map out all those shipping routes… avoiding obstacles as they go?? Those were exciting and dangerous times… adventurous and also… full of mystery. Geomatics has come a long… long way… but for me … the fundamental principle of discovery, adventure and art is always there in mapping … whether 200 years ago or today.

With computers... GIS is changing all this today. A new era of mapping and discovery.