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What a lovely work of art!  This model has a US Navy Stock No., so it
was government property.  A Museum of Complication!

Fred

On Nov 11, 2008, at 5:29 PM, George Huxtable wrote:

> Bruce Hamilton asked-
>
> "Anyone need something for their collection? What exactly is it?
>  http://cgi.ebay.ca/ASTRONOMIC-CALCULATOR-SEXTANT-
> theodolite_W0QQitemZ190265697439QQcmdZViewItem?
> hash=item190265697439&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1215%7C66%
> 3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318"|==================It's a
> Zerbee "Fix Finder". Perhaps it's THE Zerbee Fix Finder. described
> inthe US patent 2519532 , attached. It could be the prototype,
> perhaps theone-and-only, because it's labelled serial number 1; the
> invention of LouisB Zerbee, patent granted 1950. You can dial up
> the details in GooglePatents.I've never seen one or even heard of
> it before. It claims to be able tosolve one OR MORE spherical
> triangles, simultaneously, so could presumablyresult in a fix from
> a pair of star altitudes. I admit to not having studiedthe details
> of the patent in any detail. These things are written in aspecial
> arcane language that seems intended to obscure more than it
> reveals.It seems to be a development of the armillary sphere, an
> analoguerepresentation of the Earth and sky, allowing spherical
> triangles to besolved. Such armillary spheres first appeared in
> China in the first-centuryBC. The nearest thing to this device I've
> seen (in print) is the Mariner'sCalculator, in Janet Taylor's
> "Navigation simplified" of  1849, but thatcould solve only one
> spherical triangle at a time.But this one is FAR more
> sophisticated. Just look at the profusion of arcscales, each fitted
> with its own micrometer readout. No expense has beenspared in its
> construction; which may be why it wasn't developed further. Itwould
> be interesting to discover what accuracy was achievable.It's the
> sort of instrument I would love to own. You could play with it
> forhours. I expect it will fetch a lot more than the present bid,
> and shouldreally find a home in a museum. Perhaps a Museum of
> Complication, if such aspeciality exists.George.contact George
> Huxtable, now at george@hux.me.ukor at +44 1865 820222 (from UK,
> 01865 820222)or at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13
> 5HX, UK.
> >
> 



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