Sector
From Inventions
Name adopted or coined by the inventor to define his geometric compass similar to the altazimuth square. The name remained in use in England from the late sixteenth century on to indicate the proportional compass.
Contents |
Inventor
Thomas Hood
Historic Period
1598
Description
Measurement compass for arithmetical and geometric operations, for calculating inaccessible quantities and in particular for land surveying. The arms equipped with sights move, as in the altazimuth square, on a semicircle bearing the degree scale. With the passage of time, the name "sector" has become synonymous with proportional compass.
Bibliographical Resources
Hood, Thomas, The making and use of the gnomonical instrument called a sector, London, 1598.
Existing Instruments
Oxford, Museum for the History of Science, Inv. 44505
Images
Filippo.jpg
Thomas Hood. The making and use of the gnomonical instrument called a sector, London, 1598. |
Author of the entry: Filippo Camerota
