MENSURATION

, the act, or art, of measuring sigured extension and bodies; or of finding the dimensions, and contents of bodies, both superficial and solid.

Every different species of Mensuration is estimated and measured by others of the same kind; so, the solid contents of bodies are measured by cubes, as cubic inches, or cubic feet, &c; surfaces by squares, as square inches, feet, &c; and lengths or distances by other lines, as inches, feet, &c.

The contents of rectilinear figures, whether plane or solid, can be accurately determined, or expressed; but of many curved ones, not. So the quadrature of the circle, and cubature of the sphere, are problems that have never yet been accurately solved. See the various kinds of Mensuration, as well as that of the different figures, under their respective terms.

The first writers on Geometry were chiefly writers on Mensuration; as Euclid, Archimedes, &c. See Quadrature; also the Preface to my Mensuration, for the most ample information.