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A mathematical instrument is a tool or device used in the study or practice of mathematics. In geometry, construction of various proofs was done using only a compass and straightedge; arguments in these proofs relied only on idealized properties of these instruments and literal construction was regarded as only an approximation. In applied mathematics, mathematical instruments were used for measuring angles and distances, in astronomy, navigation, surveying and in the measurement of time.[1]
- ^ Gerard L'Estrange Turner Scientific Instruments, 1500-1900: An Introduction ( University of California Press, 1998) ISBN 0520217284 page 8