Sector

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A sector is an instrument for solving computations which use the rules of proportion. This brass example was made in Paris in the 17th century, probably by Michael Butterfield, an Englishman who worked in Paris from around 1677 to 1724.

This side of the sector is engraved with 'Les parties Egalles' ['line of equal parts'], 'Les plans' ['line of planes']; 'polgones' ['polygons'] (regular solids) and 'Calibre des pieces' ['gunnery calibre'], for use in artillery calculations.

The invention of the sector is attributed to Thomas Hood by the English, and to Galileo Galilei by the Italians. Both published quite independent accounts in 1598. However, the instrument had its origins in the earlier proportional compass.

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• Online ID: 000-190-002-055-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  T.1924.257
• Date: 17th century
  
• Material: Brass
  
• Dimensions: 13.25" L x 0.63" W
  
• What:
• Subject: 19. MATHEMATICS (Departmental Classification)
  
• Who: Butterfield, Paris (Sundial maker)
  
• Where: France, Paris
  
• Event:
• Description: Seventeenth century brass sector made by Butterfield, Paris
  
• References:
  • For Butterfield, see Turner, Anthony, Mathematical instrument-making in early modern Paris' in Fox, Robert & Turner, Anthony, Luxury Trades and Consumerism in Ancien Regime Paris'. Aldershot: 1998, pp 78-83, 95-6 
  • Hambly, Maya. Drawing Instruments 1580-1980. London: 1988, pp 134-6 
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