Geodetic instruments from the viewpoint of the physicist

Abstract

In connection with my work at the U.S. Bureau of Standards in the calibrating of various geodetic instruments and in the preparing of occasional specifications for instruments of this sort as well as in consequence of my visit to European standardizing laboratories I have become deeply interested in this subject. As I have been fortunate in my opportunities for seeing and working with geodetic instruments in several countries, a brief critical description of a few of these may be of some interest. A discussion of these leads naturally to some remarks on geodetic instrument design, and then to a brief outline of the efforts being made in the Section of Length Measurements at the Bureau of Standards to cooperate in geodetic work.