A tool whose only claim to fame is that it obeys the laws of gravity has played a mighty role throughout world history, beginning with the Egyptians, who created the earliest surveying instruments: the plumb-bob, the A-Level, T-Level and plumb square.
The plumb-bob was almost rendered obsolete when the level was invented during the Industrial Revolution. While the level was more accurate for true horizontal line (and more cost-effective to manufacture), it could not accurately transfer an exact point from one height to another.
Many plumb-bobs helped to build Naples, but one in particular was especially true and accurate. He was also a poet. W. Robert Wilson, aka “Plumb-Bob,” founded one of our city’s earliest and now most respected engineering firms.
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