Surveying dates back to the ancient Greeks, Romans and Egyptians where they used simple things such as water to help create a level structure. As the world began to industrialize, surveying became a necessity and the level once used by the Greeks had to adapt. Today, thanks to technology, we have moved from manual calculations and tedious leveling to self-compensating levels that give us the fastest and most accurate readings. In the mid-1600s, a man named Melchizedech Thévenot was the first to revolutionize leveling when he decided to seal water in a vial. The vial contained an air bubble that moved left or right depending on the flatness of the object. Today this surveying tool is called the spirit level. The technology has helped improve accuracy by replacing water with ethanol, which has a lower freezing point. This improvement helps avoid measurement variations based on colder weather and frost. We find the first use of the spirit level during a geological survey in 1857, where they were used to connect tide gauges from Albany to New York. This was an extremely large project covering a large area and due to inaccuracies the measurements had to be repeated five times. The inaccuracies of the spirit level forced the Coast and Geological Survey (GS) to search for a more accurate and faster instrument that could be used for surveying. In 1871, the star level was created to help survey larger portions of land more accurately. The star level consists of a telescope attached to a horizontal bar by Y-shaped brackets allowing easy adjustments and a spirit level attached to the side for leveling the instrument. The instrument is then placed on a tripod located on a target and read with a...... middle of paper ......ings. Although readings are taken in the same manner as previous instruments, the technology allows a surveyor to save data on the grade and work on multiple projects at the same time. The software automatically calculates the error affected by temperature, taking automation to a new level. Improvements in technology have made self-leveling levels easy to use, reliable and very accurate. Although we have technology as an aid today, we use some of the same techniques and ideas used by the Greeks and those from the 1600s. Melchizedech Thévenot created the spirit level in 1600, which is still used today today by carpenters and engineers around the world. Surveyors using self-leveling instruments still use the techniques used by GS to survey and mark the 39th parallel. Technology hasn't changed technique, it's just made surveying faster, more accurate, and easier to perform..