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Maclean Square Navigational Protractor

American History Museum

Protractor - Maclean Protractor
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  • Protractor - Maclean Protractor
  • Protractor - Maclean Protractor - Case & Instructions

    Object Details

    maker

    J. D. Maclean Co.

    Description

    This clear Perspex (acrylic glass) square protractor is divided by single degrees and marked by tens in the clockwise direction from 010° to 350°. A red arrow points to the origin. The marks for 090°, 180°, and 270° are replaced by the compass points E, S, and W, respectively. Diagonal lines to the four corners of the protractor are marked with the compass points NE, SE, SW, and NW. A pinhole is at the center of the protractor.
    The interior of the protractor is marked with a grid. Tick marks (four per square) appear along the X and Y axes and around the outside edge of the grid. The top is labeled (in red): MACLEAN PROTRACTOR. Maker's marks are at the bottom: REGD. TRADE MK. AIRNAVA; J. D. MACLEAN ∙ Co. LONDON W.C.2. The protractor is stored in a tan cardboard case, which is printed with instructions for using the instrument. Marine and aviation navigators could employ it as a parallel rule, station pointer, and plotter. John Donald Maclean patented a rectangular protractor and parallel rule in the United States. No record of a trademark for "Airnava" was found in the United States or in Great Britain. This form of protractor is standard and is sometimes called a Douglas type of square protractor. Weems & Plath manufactures similar protractors in the 21st century.
    Reference: Journal of Navigation 15, no. 4 (1962): front matter.

    Location

    Currently not on view

    Credit Line

    Gift of Howard Chapelle

    date made

    1950s-1960s

    ID Number

    1987.0788.05

    accession number

    1987.0788

    catalog number

    1987.0788.05

    Object Name

    protractor

    Physical Description

    cardboard (overall material)
    plastic (overall material)

    Measurements

    overall: .6 cm x 13.9 cm x 13.8 cm; 1/4 in x 5 15/32 in x 5 7/16 in

    place made

    United Kingdom: England, London

    See more items in

    Medicine and Science: Mathematics
    Science & Mathematics
    Protractors

    Data Source

    National Museum of American History

    Subject

    Mathematics
    Protractor
    Navigation

    Metadata Usage

    CC0

    Link to Original Record

    https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a7-4fe2-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

    Record ID

    nmah_904386

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