Obsolete scientific instruments

alt=Planispheric Astrolabe made of brass, cast, with fretwork rete and surface engraving|thumb|upright=1.2|North African, planispheric astrolabe. Khalili Collections|Khalili Collection. thumb|upright|A modern astrolabe made in 2013, in Tabriz, Iran.

thumb|320px|An early D'Arsonval galvanometer showing magnet and rotating coil

mechanical analog computer

antique electrical device which stores a high-voltage electric charge

model of objects in the sky

thumb|Gilbert's versorium The electroscope is an early scientific instrument used to detect the presence of electric charge on a body. It detects this by the movement of a test charge due to the Coulomb electrostatic force on it. The amount of charge on an object is proportional to its voltage. The accumulation of enough charge to detect with an electroscope requires hundreds or thousands of volts, so electroscopes are used with high voltage sources such as static electricity and electrostatic machines. An electroscope can only give a rough indication of the quantity of charge; an instrument t

clock with special mechanisms and dials to display astronomical information

pair of large copper hemispheres designed by Otto von Guericke

collection of notable objects

right|thumb|A simple alidade for use with a ceiling projector An alidade () (archaic forms include alhidade, alhidad, alidad) or a turning board is a device that allows one to sight a distant object and use the line of sight to perform a task. This task can be, for example, to triangulate a scale map on site using a plane table drawing of intersecting lines in the direction of the object from two or more points or to measure the angle and horizontal distance to the object from some reference point's polar measurement. Angles measured can be horizontal, vertical or in any chosen plane.

navigation instrument

1766 painting by Joseph Wright of Derby

museum in Franeker

calibrated wooden rod with sliding crosspiece used for measuring the altitude of celestial bodies or the height of distant objects

early type of cathode ray tube

Device that generates electrical charge on a high voltage electrode

right|thumb|250px|The celestial sphere with the [[zenith and almucantar marked in red, the horizon in green, and the path of a star or the Sun in blue.]]An almucantar (also spelled almucantarat or almacantara) is a circle on the celestial sphere parallel to the horizon. Two stars that lie on the same almucantar have the same altitude. The term was introduced into European astronomy by monastic astronomer Hermann Contractus of Reichenau, Latinized from the Arabic word ' ("the almucantar, sundial", plural: '), derived from '''' ("arch, bridge")

electrostatic generator

thumb|Electrophorus from the 1800s.

thumb|upright=1.2|A small orrery showing Earth and the inner planets An orrery () is a mechanical model of the Solar System that illustrates or predicts the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons, usually according to the heliocentric model. It may also represent the relative sizes of these bodies; however, since accurate scaling is often not practical due to the actual large ratio differences, it may use a scaled-down approximation. Mechanical planetary models are known to have existed since the Ancient Greeks, and are known by various names, but the term orrery is derived fr

1768 painting by Joseph Wright of Derby

thumb|Graphic reconstruction of the dioptra, by Venturi, in 1814. (An incorrect interpretation of Heron's description)

principal Roman surveying instrument

thumb|right|Torquetum (1568), made by Johannes Praetorius in Nuremberg thumb|right|Engraving of a Torquetum

measuring tool used in navigation and astronomy

medieval name for an ancient astronomical instrument

thumb|The astrarium made by Giovanni Dondi dell'Orologio showed hour, year calendar, movement of the planets, Sun and Moon. Reconstruction, [[Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci, Milan.]]

instrument used to determine the local time based on the relative positions of two or more stars in the night sky

device used in surveying and related disciplines to provide a solid and level surface on which to make field drawings, charts and maps

thumb|right|A cyanometer by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure (from the collection of ''Musée d'histoire des sciences de la Ville de Genève) thumb|right|An artwork in Ljubljana, Slovenia, inspired by a cyanometer A cyanometer (from cyan and -meter'') is an instrument for measuring "blueness", specifically the colour intensity of blue sky. It is attributed to Horace-Bénédict de Saussure and Alexander von Humboldt. It consists of squares of paper dyed in graduated shades of blue and arranged in a color circle or square that can be held up and compared to the color of the sky.

thumb|Equatorium from Johannes Schöner

specialized eyepiece

distance-measuring device

Nautical navigational instrument

astronomical device

angle-measuring device used for astronomical purposes

scientific instrument for measuring the density of liquids

instrument that provided the first practical electrocardiogram

The backstaff is a navigational instrument that was used to measure the altitude of a celestial body, in particular the Sun or Moon. When observing the Sun, users kept the Sun to their back (hence the name) and observed the shadow cast by the upper vane on a horizon vane. It was invented by the English navigator John Davis, who described it in his book ''Seaman's Secrets'' in 1594.

scientific instrument demonstrating electric charge

early astronomical instrument

19th-century medical treatment

instrument to determine the moment of the equinoxes

device to mark graduations on measuring instruments

Wikimedia list article