Oktant morski Isaaca Newtona

Isaac Newton is known primarily as an outstanding mathematician and physicist. Less known are his interests in alchemy, theology, and history. Yet, we still know very little about his interest in engineering and about how he designed and created several scientific instruments (e.g. a variant of the reflecting telescope, a variant of the rotary slide rule). Among them, there is also a navigational octant built by Newton in 1699. This device is an example of an ingenious solution in the field of early modern catadioptrical instruments.