The Measurers: a Flemish Image of Mathematics in the Sixteenth Century Figure 19
The use of the geometrical quadrant.
From Adriaan Metius, Arithmetic� libri duo: et geometri� libri VI (Leiden, 1640).
The linear division of the sides of the square means that the angles required are taken as ratios instead of in degrees; this allows the convenient conversion of, for example, lengths measured on the ground to inaccessible heights.
Enlarge imageNext figurePrevious figureList of figures Contents
(c) Museum of the History of Science, Broad Street, Oxford, England. Privacy policyAccessibility statement
