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Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice: Astronomical Instruments -

A Quadrant
Author(s): Toke Knudsen (State University of New York at Oneonta)

A Quadrant
A quadrant is an instrument used to measure the angle between a heavenly body and the horizon; that is,
the altitude of a heavenly body. The instrument is a quarter of a circle with the circumference portion divided
into 90 degrees.
For more information about the quadrant, Epact, an electronic catalogue of medieval and renaissance
scientific instruments from four European museums, has an article dedicated to the quadrant at
http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/epact/article.php?ArticleID=14. In addition, the Starry Messenger Project,
developed by the Whipple Museum of the History of Science and the Department of History and Philosophy
of Science at Cambridge University, has a website dedicated to the quadrant and the sextant at
http://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/starry/quadrant.html.
One group in Fall 2014 decided to construct a quadrant. The group's quadrant was made of wood, and, with
a radius of 47.75′′ , it is a large instrument. The group made the decision to make a large instrument
because its accuracy would be significantly greater than that of a small, handheld quadrant. In other words,
the larger the quadrant, the more accurately one can determine the altitude of the celestial body in
question.
The quadrant was designed and constructed entirely by the students, who used the workshop belonging to
one of them for the construction part.

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Figure 4. Student plans for a quadrant from Fall 2014 Ancient Mathematical Astronomy class
Figure 4 shows the group's sketch of a quadrant. The design of the instrument followed this original sketch.

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Figure 5. Completed quadrant from Fall 2014 Ancient Mathematical Astronomy class (photograph by
Toke Knudsen)
The above is a photo of the finished quadrant. It is not entirely clear from the photo, but the top edge of the
quadrant has three sights lined up properly. The small white bottle seen at lower left is suspended from the
top-left corner of the instrument and serves as a plumb. The circular edge of the instrument has the
degrees from 0 to 90 marked on it.

Figure 6. Students demonstrate the use of their quadrant in Fall 2014 Ancient Mathematical

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Astronomy class (photograph by Toke Knudsen)

The quadrant can be used practically, as seen in the above photo of the members of the group
demonstrating how to use the instrument to the rest of the class. The small white bottle is seen hanging
from the quadrant at the right side of the leftmost table, marking an angle on the instrument. The quadrant's
accuracy, however, was not great since the marks for the degrees were not marked accurately enough.
Toke Knudsen (State University of New York at Oneonta), "Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice:
Astronomical Instruments - A Quadrant," Convergence (May 2015)
Convergence
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Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice: Astronomical

Instruments
Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice: Astronomical Instruments - Introduction
Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice: Astronomical Instruments - Designing a Course in Ancient
Mathematical Astronomy
Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice: Astronomical Instruments - Teaching a Course in Ancient
Mathematical Astronomy
Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice: Astronomical Instruments - Design and Construction of
Astronomical Instruments

Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice: Astronomical Instruments - Three Armillary Spheres
Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice: Astronomical Instruments - A Quadrant
Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice: Astronomical Instruments - Two Sextants
Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice: Astronomical Instruments - An Astrolabe, a Jacob’s Staff,
and a Telescope
Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice: Astronomical Instruments - Three Sundials

Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice: Astronomical Instruments - Library Exhibitions - Conclusion

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