GPS Versus Landmarks
How much more precise are we thanks to Einstein and the development of rocketry? I've been taught that before the proliferation of the Navigation Satellite Timing and Ranging Global Positioning System (NAVSTAR GPS) when you took a sample from a site, such as aquatic invertebrates from a watershed, the standard procedure was to name the site as best you could which mostly meant putting the name of the body of water down or describing local landmarks. As I'm sure you can imagine, this just isn't a very precise way of marking where you took a sample from. As GPS the technology has developed and as the satellites that enable its precision have been launched into orbit in greater and greater numbers, resulting in greater and greater precision, policies have also enabled non-military use of GPS to be more precise by turning off civilian uses' selective imprecision. (You can read more about the history of GPS here .) The technology behind GPS is becoming so popular and wid...