John Serson
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Template:Use dmy dates John Serson (died 1744) was an English sea captain best known for his invention of a "whirling speculum".[1] This was an early form of artificial horizon designed for marine navigation, consisting of a mirror, attached to a spinning top, that attempted to remain in a horizontal plane despite the movement of the ship. This device can be seen as a precursor to the gyroscope used in modern inertial navigation, although it was not itself a gyroscope.[2]
Serson was lost at sea on Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". in 1744.[3]
See also
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
- ↑ Bedini SA, "History Corner: The Artificial Horizon", Professional Surveyor Magazine December 1999 Volume 19 Number 10 Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Turner G, "History of Gyroscopes", gyroscopes.org [1] - account of first test of Serson's speculum
- ↑ Wagner JF, "From Bohnenberger's Machine to Integrated Navigation Systems, 200 Years of Inertial Navigation", Photogrammetric Week 05, Wichmann Verlag, Heidelberg 2005 [2]
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".