NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Is Sextant a generic word?
From: John D. Howard
Date: 2016 Dec 8, 11:27 -0800
From: John D. Howard
Date: 2016 Dec 8, 11:27 -0800
This may sound like a silly question but do we use the word Sextant in a generic sense or as the name of a specific device - a double reflecting instriment with an arc of 60 degrees but reading to 120 degrees?
The reason I ask is I have noticed many times on Navlist and in books that some people use the word Octant when talking about an aircraft instrement ( A-12 ) and sometimes Quardint. (and sometimes sextant )
The Navy Mark II has an arc of 72 degrees and reads to 144 degrees but no one hesitates to call it a Sextant when it really is not. Do we call a marine instrement a sextant and an aircraft device a quadrant? Is there any agreement in the use of the different words?
John H.
