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John Hadley




John Hadley ( April 16 , 1682 Bloomsbury , LondonFebruary 14 , 1744 , East Barnet , Hertfordshire ) English inventor of the Sextant , around 1730 . The sextant allows its user to determine the elevation of Celestial objects with respect to the Horizon . If the position of the object on the sky and the time of the observation are known, it is easy for the user to calculate his Latitude . The sextant proved extremely valuable for navigation and displaced the use of the Astrolabe .

An American , Thomas Godfrey , independently invented the sextant at approximately the same time.

Hadley also improved the Reflector Telescope , building the first Newtonian Telescope in 1721 .

Mons Hadley and Rima Hadley on the Moon are named after him.

He is the older brother of George Hadley .


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