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quadrant
nautical instrument
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invention by Hadley
- In John Hadley
…of Philadelphia, Hadley invented a quadrant (actually a double-reflecting octant) for measuring the altitude of the Sun or a star above the horizon to find geographic position at sea. His double-reflecting principle made accurate determinations of location much easier. Hadley also fixed a spirit level to the instrument so that…
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use in navigation
- In navigation: Latitude measurements
…seem to have been the quadrant and the astrolabe, long known to astronomers. For both devices the reference direction was actually the vertical, rather than the horizontal, but conversion of the readings was an elementary matter. The mariner’s astrolabe, however, was less widely used than its 16th-century successor, the cross-staff,…
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