NavList:

   

Reply

Dear Bill,

Congratulations on your shrewd acquisition, and fine restoration.

But even more, on the clarity and precision of your text and pictures,
which fully match those of the instrument itself.

I love clear prose, and think of such technical writing as an art, as much
an art as any "literary" writing.

I'm delighted to see that Ken Gebhart is producing your book in real print.

But that's not why I am writing now. All I've done so far is to scan the
update of your website, as seen in Internet Explorer. It obviously
deservers, and will get, a much longer and closer look. But there are a few
oddnesses, which you might not be aware of, that I'm reporting
immediately..

First to report is that figure 1 is missing; the pictures start with figure
2.

Second, your text and picture do not occupy the whole page width, but only
about two-thirds of it, to the left of the page. This has left a narrow
column on the right, into which the opening paragraph of your next piece,
on the Troughton surveying sextant, has been squeezed. But then, when
getting to the pics of the Troughton piece, that will no longer fit in, so
from then on that right column is then blank, until reaching the end of
your Gilbert piece. From then on, the Troughton section takes over,
occupying the full page, and at that point it's hard to see where one
section ends and the other starts.

I haven't tried other browsers.

To me it seems you have a bit of repair-work to do on your website, which
probably involves specifying that from the start, the new section should
take over the full page width. It might all be as you intended, in which
case I apologise for bothering you; but I doubt it.

Yours, George.

contact George Huxtable, at  george@hux.me.uk
or at +44 1865 820222 (from UK, 01865 820222)
or at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK.




contact George Huxtable, at  george@hux.me.uk
or at +44 1865 820222 (from UK, 01865 820222)
or at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Morris" 
To: 
Sent: Thursday, June 10, 2010 5:43 AM
Subject: [NavList] Venerable sextant


I recently completed the examination and restoration of a late eighteenth
century sextant that I think may be of interest to those members who enjoy
looking at sextants. I have written an illustrated account and, since it is
quite lengthy with 20 high resolution photos, I have posted it on my blog
at www.sextantbook.com, rather than on this site. There are three ways to
find the post: it is the latest under "sextant restorations"; it is the
only one posted so far in June 2010; and you can enter "210 years on" as a
search term.

I raise some questions about the instrument's date, the material of its arc
and the design of the index error adjustment and side error adjustment,
probably both due to Peter Dollond. I would be very glad to hear from
members more expert than I in those fields.

Bill Morris
Pukenui
New Zealand
----------------------------------------------------------------
NavList message boards and member settings: www.fer3.com/NavList
Members may optionally receive posts by email.
To cancel email delivery, send a message to NoMail[at]fer3.com
----------------------------------------------------------------

   

Reply