Conference Diary

Sunday 20th July

Sunday, a walk from Cambridge to India and back and accomplished in obligatory sunshine.

Today 178 delegates representing some 73 countries heard Vanessa Lawrence open the 2003 Cambridge Conference in a marquee erected for the Indian Great Arc exhibition. The Great Arc exhibition is a celebration of the efforts of British and Indian surveyors to create the trigonometrical framework of the subcontinent, from southern tip to the Himalayas. A task of outstanding scientific and human achievement as well as vindicating the vision of those, Lambton and then Everest. These officers foresaw the importance of an accurate and accessible framework on which the maps of India would be based.

The link between then and now is that the provision of a geographic information infrastructure still requires vision and dedication. A point not lost on the Indian Minister of Science and His Excellency the Indian High Commissioner who also addressed the delegates.

After the addresses a mahout on a full size elephant called us to visit the exhibition. The low afternoon sun reflected off the highly polished ears and trunk of the elephant which rested precariously on small wheels, almost hidden, under steel legs. A mechanical elephant may not be the epitome of changing times but the message was clear: come and see something extraordinary.

To the surveyors, a look at the 36" theodolite, built by Jesse Ramsden to the same pattern as the one made for Ordnance Survey, was of great interest. One of the mapping organisation CEOs said that the question posed was how to level the instrument. But then that is the main point: however wonderful the system, without the preparation and a sound base the rest is worthless.

The Great Arc exhibition is touring UK and is a very interesting and well designed display, well worth a visit.

Our return to St John's College was followed by dinner. For many this was their first visit to Cambridge and their first to a college hall whilst for others the greetings from one table to another reflected friendships gained from many Cambridge Conferences. Whether new or renewed acquaintances were met the hubbub of conversation successfully drowned the clatter of cutlery.

An after dinner film about the Survey of India in Tibet during the 19th century was followed by tea (Indian of course) and a visit, by some, to the bar.

For many this had been a long day, for some a day of more than 24 hours if you count the time differences encountered in the flight, and thus tired or just plain exhausted the delegates retired; ready for Monday.