Sector

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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 Compasses.

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 Compasses.


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


Author of the entry: Filippo Camerota

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