Treatise by Olbrycht Strumieński (1573) — The First Polish Book on Hydraulic Engineering

Abstract

The treatise by Olbrycht Strumieński is chronologically the first book in Poland, and the second in Europe, describing levelling instruments. A few years after Strumieński’s death, the text was published by Stanisław Stroynowski. Until the 19 century, only three Polish-language treatises addressed the problems of levelling. Strumieński described the technique of building and managing fish ponds in Moravia, Bohemia and Poland. The presented surveying instruments and measuring methods are sufficient for the design and construction of a pond that can survive for over 300 years. Strumieński also presented the principles of freshwater aquaculture. Poland, along with Bohemia, Moravia and Hungary, was an exporter of freshwater fish to Western Europe from the 16 to the mid-18 century.