Caption: The Chaucer Astrolabe so-called since it is similar to the astrolabe described by Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1343--1400) in his A Treatise on the Astrolabe.
This brass astrolabe was made in England in 1326. It is the oldest dated astrolabe from Europe.
An astrolabe is a interesting combination of analog calculator and observational device that originated in Classical Antiquity circa 150 BCE perhaps by Hipparchus (c.190--120 BCE).
Astrolabes, like many antique scientific devices, were often built with considerable artistic effort.
The as an analog calculator the astrolabe is the remote ancestor of the modern planisphere and as an observational device it is the remote ancestor of the sextant.
Credit/Permission:
© Marie-Lan Nguyen (AKA User:Jastrow),
2012 /
Creative Commons
CC BY-SA 2.5.
Image link: Wikipedia:
File:Chaucer Astrolabe BM 1909.6-17.1.jpg.
Local file: local link: chaucer_astrolabe_like.html.
File: Chaucer file:
chaucer_astrolabe_like.html.