Navisphere Celestial Globe

Object Details

Description

The Navisphere was designed to be "a nautical instrument of extremely simple construction and easily handled, by means of which nearly all the complex nautical problems may be solved in a few minutes, and without calculation, or, at least, with very little calculation." It consists of a celestial globe that shows only the brightest stars, with a brass superstructure (the Metrosphere) that represents the horizon and two meridians. Henri DeMagnac, a captain in the French navy who was interested in the problems of navigation, probably came up with the original design. Frederic William Eichens, an instrument maker in Paris, obtained a French patent for it in 1878, an American patent in 1881, and other patents in England and Germany. An inscription on This example reads "NAVISPHERE / DE / . . . / F. W. EICHENS CONSTR / E. BERTAUX, ÉDITEUR / PARIS."

Ref: F. W. Eichens, "Celestial Globe," U.S. patent #247,811.

H. De Magnac, "Le navisphere - instrument nautique," Revue Maritime et Coloniale 61 (1879): 598-616.

H. De Magnac, Le Navisphere: instrument nautique, instruction pour son usage (Paris, 1881); and The Navisphere (England, 1881).

Location

Currently not on view

ID Number

1989.0189.03

catalog number

1989.0189.03

accession number

1989.0189

patent number

247,811

Object Name

globe

Physical Description

iron (overall material)

paper (overall material)

silver (overall material)

Measurements

average spatial: 21.9 cm; 8 5/8 in

overall: 13 in x 9 in; 33.02 cm x 22.86 cm

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Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences

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Measuring & Mapping

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Metadata Usage

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a9-0254-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record ID

nmah_1064793