Édouard-Gaston Daniel Deville, ISO, FRSC (February 21, 1849 – September 21, 1924)[1] was the first to perfect a practical method of photogrammetry, the making of maps based on photography.

Before Deville moved to Canada in 1874, he had attended naval school, served in the French navy (reaching the rank of Captain) and had conducted hydrographic surveys in the South Sea islands and Peru.

He used innovative techniques to deal with the challenges of surveying in Canada, including a special method of mapping mountainous regions that he invented.

To meet these challenges of surveying in the Rocky Mountains Deville experimented with mapping methods developed by French army engineer Aimé Laussedat.

With the arrival of fixed-wing aircraft, surveyors could use Deville's camera to create aerial photographs for surveying flat and remote parts of the country, as well as regions with high elevations.