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‘A Brief History of the Method of Fixing by Horizontal Angles’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 January 2010

J. Dickson ,
George A. Gibson  and
Charles H. Cotter
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Readers of Captain Cotter's very interesting article ‘A Brief History of the Method of Fixing by Horizontal Angles’, may be interested to know that the possible use of the resection or three-point problem was appreciated by English mathematical practitioners of the seventeenth century.

Explanations have been given by John Collins, F.R.S. (1625–83), and Edmond Halley, F.R.S., Master and Commander, later Captain, Royal Navy and Astronomer Royal. It seems probable that Halley actually made some use of the principle when he charted the English Channel.

Dr. Angus Armitage and Dr. A. H. W. Robinson have explained Halley's method.

Type
Forum
Information
The Journal of Navigation , Volume 26 , Issue 4 , October 1973 , pp. 491 - 496
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Institute of Navigation 1973

References

REFERENCES

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Robinson, A. H. W. (1962). Marine Cartography in Britain, Leicester.Google Scholar
Armitage, A. (1966). Edmond Halley, London.Google Scholar
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