NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Newtons octant
From: Michael Daly
Date: 2007 Nov 15, 02:19 -0500
From: Michael Daly
Date: 2007 Nov 15, 02:19 -0500
Ted Gerrard wrote: > So what Mike, made you think this engraving was a copy of Newton's own drawing? I don't care how much the details of the drawing match the text, since my comments are based on the text: "In the annexed Scheme, PQRS denotes a Plate of Brass..." and in the next paragraph: "AB, is a Telescope, three or four Feet long, fixt on the Edge of that Brass Plate." So - why would someone willingly look forward to holding and taking measurements using a triangle of brass with a 3-4 foot telescope on it? > The full text of the 1742 RS article, You can download it, and any other RS document, from the Royal Society web site until the end of this month. After that time, access is by subscription. > Different diagrams of Newton's only invention are included a Wikipedia article on Octants. Irony - quoting an article I wrote and for which I supplied figures (just check the history). The first is from Brewster's, the second (detail) from the Phil.Trans. article. Newton invented more than just that instrument. Mike --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To post to this group, send email to NavList@fer3.com To , send email to NavList-@fer3.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---