Editing Topography (section)

==Etymology==
{{See also|Topographic map#History}}

The term ''topography'' originated in [[ancient Greece]] and continued in [[ancient Rome]], as the detailed description of a place. The word comes from the [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] {{Lang|grc|τόπος}} (''topos'', "place") and {{Lang|grc|-γραφία}} (''-graphia'', "writing").<ref>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=topography Online Etymology Dictionary] – etymonline.com</ref> In classical literature this refers to writing about a place or places, what is now largely called '[[local history]]'. In Britain and in Europe in general, the word topography is still sometimes used in its original sense.<ref>For example, see the websites of the [https://www.victoriacountyhistory.ac.uk/explore/themes/settlement-and-topography Victoria County History] and [https://www.topsoclondon.org/ London Topographical Society]</ref>

Detailed military surveys in [[Great Britain|Britain]] (beginning in the late eighteenth century) were called [[Ordnance Survey]]s, and this term was used into the 20th century as generic for topographic surveys and maps.<ref>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' – "Ordnance Survey"</ref> The earliest scientific surveys in France were the [[French cartography#Cassini maps|Cassini maps]] after the family who produced them over four generations.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Baena |first1=Victoria |title=Revolutionary Cartography and the Cassini Map of France |url=https://www.nypl.org/blog/2022/10/18/revolutionary-cartography-and-cassini-map-france |website=New York Public Library |access-date=16 June 2024}}</ref> The term "topographic surveys" appears to be American in origin. The earliest detailed surveys in the United States were made by the "Topographical Bureau of the Army", formed during the [[War of 1812]],<ref>[http://www.topogs.org/History.htm Topographical Engineers – History and Personnel<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140926122419/http://www.topogs.org/History.htm |date=2014-09-26 }}</ref> which became the [[Corps of Topographical Engineers]] in 1838.<ref>''Charting the Inland Seas: A History of the U.S. Lake Survey'', Arthur M. Woodford, 1991</ref> After the work of national mapping was assumed by the [[United States Geological Survey]] in 1878, the term topographical remained as a general term for detailed surveys and mapping programs, and has been adopted by most other nations as standard.

In the 20th century, the term topography started to be used to describe surface description in other fields where [[map]]ping in a broader sense is used, particularly in medical fields such as [[neurology]].