Vernier scale
Escala vernier (nonio)
- Date
- 1631 (nonio de Nunes, 1542) · confidence high
- Place
- Ornans, Franche-Comté / Lisbon
- Credited to
- Pierre Vernier (1631); Pedro Nunes's nonius (1542)
- People
- 👤 Pierre Vernier1580–1637
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What it is
An auxiliary sliding scale whose divisions differ slightly from those of the main scale, allowing fractions of a division to be read with precision. Pedro Nunes devised the principle for quadrants, and Vernier its modern linear form.
In Spanish and Portuguese it is called a nonius in honour of Nunes, whose device was different (concentric scales).
What it led to
- The precise reading of astronomical and surveying instruments
- Callipers and workshop metrology
- Precision geodetic cartography (Cassini)