Stand at the door of a church on a Sunday and bid 16 men to stop, tall ones and small ones, as they happen to pass out when the service is finished; then make them put their left feet one behind the other, and the length thus obtained shall be a right and lawful rood to measure and survey the land with, and the 16th part of it shall be the right and lawful foot.
<a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jakob_K%C3%B6bel" class="extiw" title="de:Jakob Köbel">Jakob Köbel</a> (1460 - 1533)
2012-09-09 14:27:28
<i>Geometrei. Von künstlichem Feldmessen und absehen</i> (published first in 1535 or 1536, reprinted in 1608.<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://mathdl.maa.org/mathDL/46/?pa=content&amp;sa=viewDocument&amp;nodeId=2591&amp;bodyId=2837">[1]</a>)