Name/Title
SextantEntry/Object ID
2013.3.73Description
This sextant bears the name "Ramsden." It is certainly named for "Ramsden, Jesse, an eminent English mathematical and astronomical instrument maker...born 1735" (from Rees' Cyclopedia, Vol. XXX, pt. 2). This sextant fits on a tripod base which in turn has a ball and socket swivel joint. Special mention should be made of Ramsden's improvement of the sextant and of his famous machine for the accurate dividing of brass sextants. Ramsden also is listed (Vol. XIII, pt. 2) as one of the three distinguished persons claimed to have invented the plate electric machine.
Another sextant is in the collection but it has no name of the maker either on the sextant or on the case.Collection
Moosnick Museum - Scientific Apparatus
