ShmoopTube

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[Dino and Coop singing]

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Pretty much every job in the world has its own set of tools of the trade... [Pictures of tools]

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A doctor has her stethoscope, thermometer and tongue depressors...

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A teacher has his red pens, dry erase markers, and a subscription to Shmoop, natch.

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And a plumber has his wrenches, sockets, power mushrooms, and warp pipes… [A plumber with his tools]

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…wait…that might just be Mario….huh. [Mario appears]

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But these tools don't always stay the same. [Caveman making a wheel]

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As technology advances, we usually invent new and exciting tools to help people do their

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jobs even better and faster. [An old car followed by a modern supercar]

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And there's no better example of this than the tools for map-making, used both by the

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surveyor who gathers the information about elevations and distances of points on the [Surveyor at work]

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ground, and the cartographer, who takes that information and turns it into a map. [A cartographer in his office]

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For instance, thousands of years ago, it was super difficult for cartographers and surveyors [Surveyor looking confused]

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to determine their position relative to the cardinal directions – that's north, south,

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east, and west, not the direction of the nearest St. Louis baseball player. [Baseball player appears]

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But that all changed with the compass, which was first used by the Chinese in the 11th century. [Man holding a compass]

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Using the natural magnetism of the Earth, a compass is able to point towards the North

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pole, and allowed surveyors to quickly identify which direction was which. [Surveyor looks happy now he has a compass]

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Another important tool in map-making is the sextant.

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The sextant was first used in 1730. [Picture of a sextant]

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It allows the user to measure the angle between any two visible objects, which was especially

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important for using stars and the sun as navigational tools. [Man using a sextant]

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We're guessing, "take a left turn somewhere past Orion…or…like…a forty-five degree

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angle to…the Big Dipper, maybe?" [Guy looking confused]

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weren't super helpful directions.

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Moving onto our next tool... the telescope.

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You've probably seen one of these before.

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These were first used in the early 1600s, and allowed surveyors to measure angles and [Soldier using a telescope]

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see far off into the distance.

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More recently, cartographers have been able to gather data about the Earth from high up

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above by using satellite imagery, aerial photography, and Shaquille O'Neal. [Satellite in orbit]

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A Global Position System – which tends to go by its nickname, GPS – allows users to

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know exactly where they are, using satellite positioning. [Woman using a GPS in her car]

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The device can pick up signals from a satellite which can give it a very precise location.

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It's like a compass on steroids. [GPS receiving satellite signals]

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Then there's remote sensing, which allows elevations on the ground to be measured by

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the use of electromagnetic waves sent from an airplane. [Airplane transmitting electromagnetic waves]

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And of course, cartographers now use computer software, including CAD –or, Computer-Aided

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Design - and GIS – Geographic Information System - which allows them to make more detailed [Cartographers working at a computer]

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maps than ever before.

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From compass to satellites, cartographers have a ton of of map-making tools at their

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disposal, leading to some pretty swanky maps and models today. [Pictures of the various tools]

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But what's next…?

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Well, no one's ever made a life-sized model of Earth. [A globe the same size as the Earth]

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How cool would that be?

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Though it might be a little hard to find somewhere to put it…

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