Historical development of instruments for measuring altitude of celestial bodies

Plovidba je od uvijek bila jedna od primarnih grana gospodarstva svih poznatih kultura. Kao glavna grana razvijala se stoljećima i pokazala velik napredak u području razvoja tehnike i instrumenata pozicioniranja. Kronološki gledano, instrumenti su postajali sve moderniji i moderniji sve do pojave modernog sekstanta kakvog danas znamo. Autonomnost astronomskih metoda pozicioniranja pokazala se kao ključnom za opstanak u modernim vremenima. Prvi uređaji poput primjerice astrolaba i kamala davali su vrijednosti koje danas smatramo nepreciznima usporedimo li ih s današnjim sekstantom izmjerenim visinama. Davisov kvadrant i Hadleyev kvadrant se smatraju novijim inačicama koje su pokazale napredak u preciznosti, ali ipak i s tim pomakom nije ostvarena željena praktičnost i preciznost kakvu danas poznajemo. Povijesni razvoj instrumenata za mjerenje visine nebeskih tijela u astronomskoj navigaciji bio je dugotrajan proces koji još i danas traje, a u svrhu povećanja točnosti i veće mogućnosti oslanjanja na pozicije broda dobivene ovim putem. Veliku pozornost treba pridati sekstantu koji je proizašao iz stotina godina napretka i unapređenja, a posebno iz razloga što je on sastavni dio inventara svakog zapovjedničkog mosta.Sailing has always been one of the primary branches of the economy of all famous cultures. Sailing, as a main branch has been developing for centuries and has shown great progress in the field of technology development and positioning instruments. Chronologically, instruments have become more and more modern until the appearance of a modern sextant we know today. Autonomy of astronomical position providing methods prow to be key to survival in modern technological times. The first devices such as astrolabe and kamal gave the values that today are considered inaccurate if we compare them with today's sextant-measured heights. Davis quadrant and Hadley quadrant are considered as recent versions that have shown progress in precision, but still we have not met desired practicality and precision using those instruments at that time. The historical development of instruments for measuring the height of celestial bodies in Astronomical Navigation was a long-lasting process that still continues today with the purpose of increasing the accuracy and greater reliance on the positions of the ship obtained through this method. Much attention should be paid to the sextant that has emerged from hundreds of years of progress and improvement, especially because it is an integral part of every navigation's bridge inventory