Surveying Compasses
From Inventions
Current name for a surveying instrument widely used in Renaissance times.
Contents |
Historic Period
16th-17th C.
Description
Compass used for surveying, generally consisting of two flat graduated legs, a magnetic compass in the hinged joint and sighting devices. In its simplest form, this type of compass is well represented by the so-called florentine archimeter. In a version described by Giacomo Contarini, which may have been invented by Fabrizio Mordente, the instrument has two graduated legs with a magnetic compass in the joint, a graduated arm also pivoted at the joint, two small graduated arms connected to cursors sliding along the legs, and a 180° graduated arc.
Bibliographical Resources
Contarini, Giacomo. Figure d'Istromenti Matematici e loro uso, ms, ca. 1590, Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ms. Canon. Ital. 145.
Existing Instruments
Florence, Museo Galileo. Institute and Museum of the History of Science, Inv. 645.
Images
Unavailable image
Giacomo Contarini,Figure d'Istromenti Matematici, ms, ca. 1590, Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ms. Canon. Ital. 145, c. 25. |
Unavailable image
Giacomo Contarini,Figure d'Istromenti Matematici, ms, ca. 1590, Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ms. Canon. Ital. 145, c. 39. |
Author of the entry: Filippo Camerota
