Panel
From Inventions
Has no specific name.
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Inventor
Domenico da Chivasso
Historic Period
1346
Description
Instrument described by Domenico da Chivasso for measuring the distance between two towers or two cities. On the board, the directions of the visual rays encompassing the two towers are traced (by applying the eye to the edge of the board) and on these lines the respective distances, measured with other instruments, between the observer and the towers, are entered in scale. The line joining the ends of the segments measured shows the distance between the towers in scale. The triangle drawn on the boards, in fact, is a first form of topographical triangulation, and its vertices represent, in scale, a zenithal projection of the mutual positions of the observer and the two towers or cities.
Bibliographical Resources
Domenico da Chivasso. Practica geometriae, Firenza, Biblioteca Mediceo Laurenziana, San Marco 215, cc. 124v-144r, I, 1.
Author of the entry: Filippo Camerota
