Etymology:
< post-classical Latin geodaesia (15th cent.) < ancient Greek γεωδαισία < Hellenistic Greek γεωδαιτης land surveyor
Originally: the measuring or surveying of land (now hist. and rare).
Now chiefly: the branch of science and mathematics concerned with the
precise measurement of the shape of the earth and of areas and positions
on its surface, and with the spatial properties of the earth's
gravitational field. (OED)
"NASA will be landing on Mars again. On 20 August, the agency announced that it had given the go-ahead to a mission that in 2016 would land near the equator of Mars to listen to the tremors rumbling through the planet’s interior. The US$425‑million mission, called InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) could expect to hear quakes as large as magnitude 5 in its two-year mission."
- "Seven days: 17–23 August 2012", Nature, 22 August 2012
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