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Re: Why is a sextant like it is?
From: Alexandre Eremenko
Date: 2004 Nov 18, 00:09 -0500
From: Alexandre Eremenko
Date: 2004 Nov 18, 00:09 -0500
I think the explanation of the unchanged shape of sextant over the centuries is simple: it is extreme conservatism of mariners:-) Why do we still use this terrible Babylonian hexadecimal system for measuring angles? Alex. P.S. The general layout of the Hadley quadrant was just copied. Maybe Headley himself was left-handed, who knows. But why the legs are on the right (that is wrong!) side, seems to have no rational explanation at all:-)