"As a practicing surveyor responsible for producing 3D geodetic survey control to establish and define the NSRS relationship on large transportation and infrastructure projects involving cutting edge state of the art geospatial technology such as Mobile Lidar and UAV Lidar / Imagery Acquisition, I am utterly astounded that we are still working in the dark ages using State Plane Coordinates, and so dissatisfied with the outcome, we scale them back to the ground where we made the measurements in the first place. Seriously, how much longer must we endure the Grid vs. Ground non-solution? How many more classes and workshops on Grid vs. Ground must there be? A better solution, the LDP still lingers with only some limited examples of implementation. With the problems caused by the improper use of the SPCS over the past several decades, it is unlikely that a more sophisticated solution like the LDP will replace the former. The NSRS will be redefined shortly, only a few years away, including a new gravimetric vertical datum. The time for the GSDM is here right now. Read this book today. Become an advocate and a voice promoting the GSDM. Your children will thank you for it and your grandchildren will remember you for it."
-Jesse Kozlowski, Geodetic Surveyor, Maser Consulting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

"The 3-D Global Spatial Data Model: Principles and Applications, 2nd Edition is remarkable in its complete and comprehensive treatment of the geocentric Cartesian coordinate system, which is the basis for modern geomatics. Earl Burkholder has delved deeply into every aspect of this coordinate system and used it to produce a unified approach to handling all aspects of geospatial data. The book is essentially self-contained, including fundamentals such as number systems, logic, arithmetic, algebra, and geometry; plus more advanced topics in geometric geodesy, physical geodesy, and error theory. The treatment includes worked examples so it is accessible