Triquetrum (astronomy)
The triquetrum (derived from the Latin tri- ["three"] and quetrum ["cornered"]) was the medieval name for an ancient
]Design
The triquetrum performed the same function as the
Use
The triquetrum was one of the most popular astronomical instruments until the invention of the telescope, it could measure angles with a better precision than the
Copernicus describes its use in the fourth book of the De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (1543) under the heading "Instrumenti parallactici constructio."[2] The instrument was also used by Tycho Brahe[4]
in the same century.
See also
Notes
- ^ a b Kelley, D., Milone, E., (2005), Exploring Ancient Skies: An Encyclopedic Survey of Archaeoastronomy, pages 77-79. Birkhäuser.
- ^ a b c Gassendi, P., Thill, O., (2002) The Life of Copernicus (1473-1543), pages 118-120. Xulon Press.
- ^ Krebs, R., (2004), Groundbreaking Scientific Experiments, Inventions, and Discoveries of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, page 225. Greenwood Publishing Group.
- ^ Christianson, J., (2000), On Tycho's Island: Tycho Brahe and His Assistants, 1570-1601, pages 73-75. Cambridge University Press.
External links
Media related to Triquetrum at Wikimedia Commons
