gunter's scale

1 definition found

gunter's scale - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Gunter's scale \Gun"ter's scale`\
     A scale invented by the Rev. Edmund Gunter (1581-1626), a
     professor of astronomy at Gresham College, London, who
     invented also Gunter's chain, and Gunter's quadrant.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: Gunter's scale is a wooden rule, two feet long, on one
           side of which are marked scales of equal parts, of
           chords, sines, tangents, rhombs, etc., and on the other
           side scales of logarithms of these various parts, by
           means of which many problems in surveying and
           navigation may be solved, mechanically, by the aid of
           dividers alone.
           [1913 Webster]