William Austin Burt
Encyclopedia
William Austin Burt was an American
inventor, legislator
, surveyor
, and millwright
. He was the inventor, maker and patentee of the first typewriter
constructed in America. He is referred to as the "Father of the typewriter." Burt also invented the first workable solar compass
, a solar use surveying instrument, and the equatorial sextant
, a precision navigational aid to determine with one observation the location of a ship at sea.
, Worcester County, Massachusetts
, June 13, 1792, on his father's farm. He is from Scottish and English ancestry, since his parents immigrated to America in 1639. He was the fifth of nine children. Because of the poor economy the family farm was sold in 1802 and the family moved to Freehold, New York
. In 1803 the family moved to the town of Broadalbin, New York
. He was greatly influenced by his mother's virtue
s.
When Burt was about fourteen his father sent him to the district school for a total of three weeks and began arithmetic studies. He did well at that and at any leisure moments he pursued the studies on his own. About this time his father gave him a book on navigation that was published in 1779. Burt showed much interest in this and was inspired to become a master of a boat someday. He motivated himself to learn the traverse table and the method of determining latitude. He developed mechanical skills which enabled him to construct a quadrant instrument
. With this he determined the latitude of his father's house with a pretty good degree of accuracy, even though he had never seen a nautical instrument before. He was also interested in astronomy
and studied almanacs and navigation.
From about the age of fifteen he determined his calling to be such as would be useful to mankind. He studied mathematics, natural philosophy, and astronomy whenever he could borrow books. He was from there on interested in these scientific and mathematical subjects his entire life. When Burt was about sixteen, his father sent him to school for six weeks total to learn science and mathematics, which he kept up, even though his duties at home and on the farm were equal to other boys in his age group. Burt recalls this as he wrote about himself when he was sixty-two years old.
. Burt enlisted in the United States army in 1812, which interrupted his surveying work.
Burt married Phoebe Cole on July 4, 1813 when he was twenty-one years old. When he lived in Wales Center in Erie County Burt held several public offices: justice of the peace, postmaster, county surveyor. At the age of twenty-five in 1817 he went on some traveling. He went on his journey mostly on foot. Some parts he went by small boats and by horseback. His travels took him from his home in Erie County to Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and St. Louis. Burt took a northerly route through Illinois and Indiana to Detroit, then he went by boat to Buffalo. These travels were preparatory to the time when he hoped to become a United States deputy surveyor. Meanwhile his career was the trade of a millwright
in New York and in Michigan.
When Burt moved to Michigan, where he lived from 1822 until his death in 1858. Here he came into the acquaintance of influential prominent men in the area who urged him to settle in the city of Detroit. He preferred the country life for his wife and four sons. When Burt was forty-one years of age he was appointed United States deputy surveyor. At that time in 1833 three sons, John, Alvin and Austin, were old enough to work as assistant surveyors to learn the trade. In the next eighteen years, his five sons, John, Alvin, Austin, Wells, and William became United States deputy surveyors also. He also trained scores of other boys in the area of Mount Vernon, Macomb County, Michigan. Burt trained them in Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa.
Burt spent two surveying seasons in Iowa. They were that of the seasons of 1836-37 and 1842-43. There he ran the course of the fifth principal meridian in Iowa. Burt used his solar compass for the first time in 1836. Alvin, one of his sons, surveyed the boundary line between Iowa and Minnesota with this same instrument. Wisconsin and Michigan disputed over boundary lines, so to settle this Burt was selected to make a re-survey of the boundary between them. After the death of one Dr. Douglass Houghton
in 1845 Burt took over his geological notes and completed the work in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
. The United States government accepted his work as satisfactory. Burt became prominent, not only in Michigan, but in the nation generally. He had an excellent reputation because of his surveying achievements. He was the first United States linear surveyor in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. While surveying, he won acclaim for his accurate work on public land surveys. He worked hard for the building of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal
and helped in making the preliminary survey of it.
Circuit Court
judge in 1833, a state legislator in 1853, and a deputy U.S. surveyor from 1833 to 1853. Burt was a member of the Masonic fraternity. He was one of the founders and the first Master of the third Masonic lodge organized in Michigan. Burt was appointed as Judge of a Michigan Territorial Court, so from then on was referred to as "Judge Burt."
as "The inventor of the first writing machine." Burt is commemorated at Stony Creek
, near his home in Mt. Vernon, Michigan, by a historical plaque. Burt Lake
in Cheboygan County, Michigan
, is named after him, as is Burt Township, Cheboygan County, Michigan
.
in 1829, which was a predecessor to the modern-day typewriter
. The "typographer" was the first constructed and operating typewriter anywhere according to Burt.
Austin Burt, the great grandson of the inventor, built a working model for the 1893 Chicago's World's Fair working from a parchment copy of the original patent (No. 5581X). He explained in a letter dated April 1, 1893, that was attached to the model that it took him a month to construct it from the original patent description because many of the parts had to be hand-made. It was on display and a picture taken of it at the University of Minnesota
just prior to going to the Chicago's World's Fair in the middle of April. Austin then was a student of engineering at the University. The replica built by Austin was returned to the model room of the Patent Office in Washington D.C. when the Chicago's World's Fair closed. There it remained until 1903 when the Patent Office model room was closed. The "typographer" was then shipped in 1903 to Hiram A. Burt of Marquette, Michigan
. Burt's machine and the original Letters Patent went to Hiram's daughter, Mrs. Howard Corning, of Bangor, Maine
when Hiram moved to Maine at a later date. The replica as of 1922 was in the Smithsonian Institution
and the documents of the original Letters Patent stayed in the family of Mrs. Howard Corning.
Burt searched far and wide for an appropriate name for his invention, but reluctantly settled with "typographer" which ultimately became "typewriter." It consisted of a wooden box and at one end there was a swinging lever for impressing. The typeface letters were mounted on a short sector attached on the underside of the lever. Pressing down with pressure imprinted the letter selected on the paper. When a page was full it was torn off like a paper towel, as the paper was on a large continuous roll. One could print both upper and lower case letters. The first writing machine Burt built did not live up to his expectation, so he built an improved version six months later that wasn't much faster. The improvements were mostly in looks and appearance for marketing the machine to investors. While Burt's typographer generated a lot of interest and did a very good job of typing clear and neat letters it did not become a commercial success. The typographer was "born out of season" and was before its time, so no market was found for his typewriter or the patent in his lifetime.
. The reason is that his surveyor's precision instrument solved many problems encountered by surveyors in the ordinary use of the magnetic compass for surveying. Burt was an active surveyor in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and other states. He was the leader of many survey teams in Michigan when it was just a wilderness. His solar compass and adaptations of it became standard instruments for the government land survey in much of the western United States and were used until the Global Positioning System
was available in the late 20th century. Burt devised the solar compass so that garbled readings caused by the Earth's magnetic field would be cleared up and so that north-south survey lines could be easier to find.
Burt discovered the Marquette Iron Range
in Marquette County
of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
in 1844. He made this discovery with a magnetic compass when the needle seemed to be spinning unusually violently. Burt continued to survey Michigan's Upper Peninsula, however using his solar compass because the normal magnetic compass would not furnish accurate readings because of the large deposits of minerals in the area. His solar compass invention had much better accuracy in these type of areas. It eventually become the standard tool used on all federal surveys. Burt's surveying tool was used in the Michigan Survey and employed in regions that had an abundance of iron ore minerals which would interfere with accurate readings when using ordinary instruments.
The General Land Office adopted the solar compass as a standard instrument for all major boundary lines, especially in regions of magnetic disturbance. The demand for his surveying precision instrument rose dramatically. Congress would not renew Burt's patent in 1850 when it expired. He claimed that he didn't even receive $300 for his right in said invention.
. Burt applied the principles of his earlier Solar Compass
invention to make this precision navigational aid in using the sun as a reference point. Other compasses of the time used by ship captains relied on earth's north magnetic pole
and were not reliable causing ships to go off course. Burt's sextant was not affected by magnetism or iron ore deposits. His special sextant directed ships at sea on course.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
inventor, legislator
Legislator
A legislator is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are usually politicians and are often elected by the people...
, surveyor
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
, and millwright
Millwright
A millwright is a craftsman or tradesman engaged with the construction and maintenance of machinery.Early millwrights were specialist carpenters who erected machines used in agriculture, food processing and processing lumber and paper...
. He was the inventor, maker and patentee of the first typewriter
Typographer (typewriter)
The typographer, American's first typewriter, was first invented and made by William Austin Burt.- History :It was patented on July 23, 1829, as U.S. patent No. 5581X. United States Patent Office documents describes Burt's American machine as "the actual construction of a type writing machine for...
constructed in America. He is referred to as the "Father of the typewriter." Burt also invented the first workable solar compass
Solar compass
The solar compass, an astronomical instrument, was first invented and made by William Austin Burt. He patented it on February 25, 1836, in the United States Patent Office as No 9428X. It received a medal at the Great Exhibition of 1851...
, a solar use surveying instrument, and the equatorial sextant
Equatorial sextant
The Equatorial Sextant , also known as Altitude Instrument, was first invented and made by William Austin Burt. He patented it November 4, 1856, in the United States as patent No. 16,002, which was followed by patents in England, France and Belgium. The purpose of this type of sextant was to get...
, a precision navigational aid to determine with one observation the location of a ship at sea.
Early life
Burt was born in PetershamPetersham
Petersham is a place in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the east of the bend in the River Thames south of Richmond, which it shares with neighbouring Ham. It provides the foreground of the scenic view from Richmond Hill across Petersham Meadows, with Ham House further along the River...
, Worcester County, Massachusetts
Worcester County, Massachusetts
-Demographics:In 1990 Worcester County had a population of 709,705.As of the census of 2000, there were 750,963 people, 283,927 households, and 192,502 families residing in the county. The population density was 496 people per square mile . There were 298,159 housing units at an average density...
, June 13, 1792, on his father's farm. He is from Scottish and English ancestry, since his parents immigrated to America in 1639. He was the fifth of nine children. Because of the poor economy the family farm was sold in 1802 and the family moved to Freehold, New York
Freehold, New York
Freehold is an unincorporated hamlet in the town of Greenville in Greene County, New York, United States. It has the ZIP Code 12431, and its own fire district....
. In 1803 the family moved to the town of Broadalbin, New York
Broadalbin (town), New York
Broadalbin is a town in Fulton County, New York, USA. The population was 5,066 at the 2000 census. The town was named after the Breadalbane Region in Scotland by an early settler.The Town of Broadalbin contains a village also called Broadalbin...
. He was greatly influenced by his mother's virtue
Virtue
Virtue is moral excellence. A virtue is a positive trait or quality subjectively deemed to be morally excellent and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being....
s.
When Burt was about fourteen his father sent him to the district school for a total of three weeks and began arithmetic studies. He did well at that and at any leisure moments he pursued the studies on his own. About this time his father gave him a book on navigation that was published in 1779. Burt showed much interest in this and was inspired to become a master of a boat someday. He motivated himself to learn the traverse table and the method of determining latitude. He developed mechanical skills which enabled him to construct a quadrant instrument
Quadrant (instrument)
A quadrant is an instrument that is used to measure angles up to 90°. It was originally proposed by Ptolemy as a better kind of astrolabe. Several different variations of the instrument were later produced by medieval Muslim astronomers.-Types of quadrants:...
. With this he determined the latitude of his father's house with a pretty good degree of accuracy, even though he had never seen a nautical instrument before. He was also interested in astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
and studied almanacs and navigation.
From about the age of fifteen he determined his calling to be such as would be useful to mankind. He studied mathematics, natural philosophy, and astronomy whenever he could borrow books. He was from there on interested in these scientific and mathematical subjects his entire life. When Burt was about sixteen, his father sent him to school for six weeks total to learn science and mathematics, which he kept up, even though his duties at home and on the farm were equal to other boys in his age group. Burt recalls this as he wrote about himself when he was sixty-two years old.
Mid life
Burt's mother Wealthy lost her father, William Austin, at sea. She therefore discouraged him from becoming master of a ship. Instead of becoming a ship captain Burt bought a broken surveying compass when he was eighteen. He repaired it and surveyed the vicinity of his father's home which was near East Aurora, Erie County, New YorkErie County, New York
Erie County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 919,040. The county seat is Buffalo. The county's name comes from Lake Erie, which in turn comes from the Erie tribe of American Indians who lived south and east of the lake before 1654.Erie...
. Burt enlisted in the United States army in 1812, which interrupted his surveying work.
Burt married Phoebe Cole on July 4, 1813 when he was twenty-one years old. When he lived in Wales Center in Erie County Burt held several public offices: justice of the peace, postmaster, county surveyor. At the age of twenty-five in 1817 he went on some traveling. He went on his journey mostly on foot. Some parts he went by small boats and by horseback. His travels took him from his home in Erie County to Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and St. Louis. Burt took a northerly route through Illinois and Indiana to Detroit, then he went by boat to Buffalo. These travels were preparatory to the time when he hoped to become a United States deputy surveyor. Meanwhile his career was the trade of a millwright
Millwright
A millwright is a craftsman or tradesman engaged with the construction and maintenance of machinery.Early millwrights were specialist carpenters who erected machines used in agriculture, food processing and processing lumber and paper...
in New York and in Michigan.
When Burt moved to Michigan, where he lived from 1822 until his death in 1858. Here he came into the acquaintance of influential prominent men in the area who urged him to settle in the city of Detroit. He preferred the country life for his wife and four sons. When Burt was forty-one years of age he was appointed United States deputy surveyor. At that time in 1833 three sons, John, Alvin and Austin, were old enough to work as assistant surveyors to learn the trade. In the next eighteen years, his five sons, John, Alvin, Austin, Wells, and William became United States deputy surveyors also. He also trained scores of other boys in the area of Mount Vernon, Macomb County, Michigan. Burt trained them in Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa.
Burt spent two surveying seasons in Iowa. They were that of the seasons of 1836-37 and 1842-43. There he ran the course of the fifth principal meridian in Iowa. Burt used his solar compass for the first time in 1836. Alvin, one of his sons, surveyed the boundary line between Iowa and Minnesota with this same instrument. Wisconsin and Michigan disputed over boundary lines, so to settle this Burt was selected to make a re-survey of the boundary between them. After the death of one Dr. Douglass Houghton
Douglass Houghton
Douglass Houghton was an American geologist and physician, primarily known for his exploration of the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan.-Early life and education:...
in 1845 Burt took over his geological notes and completed the work in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Upper Peninsula of Michigan
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the northern of the two major land masses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan. It is commonly referred to as the Upper Peninsula, the U.P., or Upper Michigan. It is also known as the land "above the Bridge" linking the two peninsulas. The peninsula is bounded...
. The United States government accepted his work as satisfactory. Burt became prominent, not only in Michigan, but in the nation generally. He had an excellent reputation because of his surveying achievements. He was the first United States linear surveyor in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. While surveying, he won acclaim for his accurate work on public land surveys. He worked hard for the building of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal
Sault Ste. Marie Canal
The Sault Ste. Marie Canal is a National Historic Site of Canada in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The canal is part of the shipping route from the Atlantic Ocean to Lake Superior and includes a set of locks to bypass the rapids on the St. Marys River....
and helped in making the preliminary survey of it.
Political
Burt was a Jeffersonian Democrat, but did not actively participate in national political affairs. He was a member of the Michigan Territorial Legislature, 1826-1827. He served as Mount Vernon's (Michigan) first postmaster from 1832 to 1856. He was a Macomb CountyMacomb County, Michigan
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 788,149 people, 309,203 households, and 210,876 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,640 people per square mile . There were 320,276 housing units at an average density of 667 per square mile...
Circuit Court
Circuit court
Circuit court is the name of court systems in several common law jurisdictions.-History:King Henry II instituted the custom of having judges ride around the countryside each year to hear appeals, rather than forcing everyone to bring their appeals to London...
judge in 1833, a state legislator in 1853, and a deputy U.S. surveyor from 1833 to 1853. Burt was a member of the Masonic fraternity. He was one of the founders and the first Master of the third Masonic lodge organized in Michigan. Burt was appointed as Judge of a Michigan Territorial Court, so from then on was referred to as "Judge Burt."
Death
In 1857, Burt moved from Mount Vernon, Michigan to Detroit, where he died the following year. The National Shorthand Association at Detroit on August 22, 1919, unanimously voted to place a wreath on the monument over the grave of Burt in Elmwood CemeteryElmwood Cemetery (Detroit, Michigan)
Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit is one of Michigan's most important historic cemeteries. Located at 1200 Elmwood Street in Detroit's Eastside Historic Cemetery District, Elmwood is the oldest continuously operating, non-denominational cemetery in Michigan...
as "The inventor of the first writing machine." Burt is commemorated at Stony Creek
Stony Creek Metropark
Stony Creek Metropark is a Huron-Clinton Metropark located in northern southeast Michigan . The park covers with a large lake at its center....
, near his home in Mt. Vernon, Michigan, by a historical plaque. Burt Lake
Burt Lake
Burt Lake is a 17,120 acre lake in Cheboygan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The western shore of the lake is on the boundary with Emmet County...
in Cheboygan County, Michigan
Cheboygan County, Michigan
-Commercial Airline:There are no commercial airline airports in Cheboygan County but the nearest ones are Alpena County Regional Airport, Chippewa County International Airport , and Cherry Capital Airport...
, is named after him, as is Burt Township, Cheboygan County, Michigan
Burt Township, Cheboygan County, Michigan
Burt Township is a civil township of Cheboygan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 654.-Communities:*Elmhurst is a place in the township located on a peninsula on the west side of Burt Lake at ....
.
Typographer
Among Burt's numerous inventions were the typographerTypographer (typewriter)
The typographer, American's first typewriter, was first invented and made by William Austin Burt.- History :It was patented on July 23, 1829, as U.S. patent No. 5581X. United States Patent Office documents describes Burt's American machine as "the actual construction of a type writing machine for...
in 1829, which was a predecessor to the modern-day typewriter
Typewriter
A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical device with keys that, when pressed, cause characters to be printed on a medium, usually paper. Typically one character is printed per keypress, and the machine prints the characters by making ink impressions of type elements similar to the pieces...
. The "typographer" was the first constructed and operating typewriter anywhere according to Burt.
Austin Burt, the great grandson of the inventor, built a working model for the 1893 Chicago's World's Fair working from a parchment copy of the original patent (No. 5581X). He explained in a letter dated April 1, 1893, that was attached to the model that it took him a month to construct it from the original patent description because many of the parts had to be hand-made. It was on display and a picture taken of it at the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
just prior to going to the Chicago's World's Fair in the middle of April. Austin then was a student of engineering at the University. The replica built by Austin was returned to the model room of the Patent Office in Washington D.C. when the Chicago's World's Fair closed. There it remained until 1903 when the Patent Office model room was closed. The "typographer" was then shipped in 1903 to Hiram A. Burt of Marquette, Michigan
Marquette, Michigan
Marquette is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Marquette County. The population was 21,355 at the 2010 census, making it the most populated city of the Upper Peninsula. Marquette is a major port on Lake Superior, primarily for shipping iron ore and is the home of Northern...
. Burt's machine and the original Letters Patent went to Hiram's daughter, Mrs. Howard Corning, of Bangor, Maine
Bangor, Maine
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
when Hiram moved to Maine at a later date. The replica as of 1922 was in the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
and the documents of the original Letters Patent stayed in the family of Mrs. Howard Corning.
Burt searched far and wide for an appropriate name for his invention, but reluctantly settled with "typographer" which ultimately became "typewriter." It consisted of a wooden box and at one end there was a swinging lever for impressing. The typeface letters were mounted on a short sector attached on the underside of the lever. Pressing down with pressure imprinted the letter selected on the paper. When a page was full it was torn off like a paper towel, as the paper was on a large continuous roll. One could print both upper and lower case letters. The first writing machine Burt built did not live up to his expectation, so he built an improved version six months later that wasn't much faster. The improvements were mostly in looks and appearance for marketing the machine to investors. While Burt's typographer generated a lot of interest and did a very good job of typing clear and neat letters it did not become a commercial success. The typographer was "born out of season" and was before its time, so no market was found for his typewriter or the patent in his lifetime.
Solar Compass
While Burt invented the typographer, he is better known for his solar compassSolar compass
The solar compass, an astronomical instrument, was first invented and made by William Austin Burt. He patented it on February 25, 1836, in the United States Patent Office as No 9428X. It received a medal at the Great Exhibition of 1851...
. The reason is that his surveyor's precision instrument solved many problems encountered by surveyors in the ordinary use of the magnetic compass for surveying. Burt was an active surveyor in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and other states. He was the leader of many survey teams in Michigan when it was just a wilderness. His solar compass and adaptations of it became standard instruments for the government land survey in much of the western United States and were used until the Global Positioning System
Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites...
was available in the late 20th century. Burt devised the solar compass so that garbled readings caused by the Earth's magnetic field would be cleared up and so that north-south survey lines could be easier to find.
Burt discovered the Marquette Iron Range
Marquette Iron Range
The Marquette Iron Range is a deposit of iron ore located in Marquette County, Michigan, largely in and around the towns of Ishpeming and Negaunee. It is a smaller counterpart of Minnesota's Mesabi Range. The iron ore of the Marquette Range has been mined continuously from 1847 until the present...
in Marquette County
Marquette County, Michigan
-National protected areas:* Hiawatha National Forest * Huron National Wildlife Refuge* Ottawa National Forest -University:Northern Michigan University is a four-year university, established in 1899, located in Marquette, Michigan, on Michigan's Upper Peninsula...
of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Upper Peninsula of Michigan
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the northern of the two major land masses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan. It is commonly referred to as the Upper Peninsula, the U.P., or Upper Michigan. It is also known as the land "above the Bridge" linking the two peninsulas. The peninsula is bounded...
in 1844. He made this discovery with a magnetic compass when the needle seemed to be spinning unusually violently. Burt continued to survey Michigan's Upper Peninsula, however using his solar compass because the normal magnetic compass would not furnish accurate readings because of the large deposits of minerals in the area. His solar compass invention had much better accuracy in these type of areas. It eventually become the standard tool used on all federal surveys. Burt's surveying tool was used in the Michigan Survey and employed in regions that had an abundance of iron ore minerals which would interfere with accurate readings when using ordinary instruments.
The General Land Office adopted the solar compass as a standard instrument for all major boundary lines, especially in regions of magnetic disturbance. The demand for his surveying precision instrument rose dramatically. Congress would not renew Burt's patent in 1850 when it expired. He claimed that he didn't even receive $300 for his right in said invention.
Equatorial Sextant
Burt designed and invented the Equatorial Sextant for the purpose of getting an accurate bearing and position of a ship at sea. When the instrument was properly manipulated it was capable, with one observation, of reading off the azimuths, altitude, time and declinationDeclination
In astronomy, declination is one of the two coordinates of the equatorial coordinate system, the other being either right ascension or hour angle. Declination in astronomy is comparable to geographic latitude, but projected onto the celestial sphere. Declination is measured in degrees north and...
. Burt applied the principles of his earlier Solar Compass
Solar compass
The solar compass, an astronomical instrument, was first invented and made by William Austin Burt. He patented it on February 25, 1836, in the United States Patent Office as No 9428X. It received a medal at the Great Exhibition of 1851...
invention to make this precision navigational aid in using the sun as a reference point. Other compasses of the time used by ship captains relied on earth's north magnetic pole
North Magnetic Pole
The Earth's North Magnetic Pole is the point on the surface of the Northern Hemisphere at which the Earth's magnetic field points vertically downwards . Though geographically in the north, it is, by the direction of the magnetic field lines, physically the south pole of the Earth's magnetic field...
and were not reliable causing ships to go off course. Burt's sextant was not affected by magnetism or iron ore deposits. His special sextant directed ships at sea on course.
Sources
- Adler, Michael H., The Writing Machine, A History of the Typewriter George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1973, ISBN 0-04-652004X
- Burt, Horace Eldon, William Austin Burt, inventor of the typewriter first constructed in any country, solar compass, equatorial sextant, R. R. Donnelley, 1920
- Burt, John S., They Left Their Mark, William Austin Burt and His Sons, Surveyors of the Public Domain, Rancho Cordova, CA., Landmark Enterprises, 1985
- Burt, William A., A key to the solar compass and surveyor's companion, William S. Young, 1858
- Farmer, Silas, The history of Detroit and Michigan, 1899
- Fuller, George Newman, Michigan history, Volume 6, Michigan Department of State, 1922
- Kidder, Harry M., Transactions of the New York State Shorthand Reporters' Association at the forth-fifth annual meeting held on December 28, 1920, Boyd Printing Co., Inc., Albany, N. Y., 1921
- Martin, John Bartlow, Call It North Country: The Story of Upper Michigan, Wayne State University Press, 1986. ISBN 081431869X
- Tuttle, Charles Richard, General History of the state of Michigan with biographical sketches, R. D. S. Tyler & Co., Detroit Free Press Company, 1873
- White, James T., Cyclopedia of American Biography, volume xviii, 1922