About the Sextant....
A sextant is a device used to determine location. Specifically, it allows one to determine at what angle the sun or other stars are above the horizon. Armed with this and the date, one can determine latitude. The sextant was a valuable tool used by navigators on the ocean. This incarnation is likewise intended as a navigation device, helping the student to find her or his way through the subject of aquatic biology. It is combined with another textbook in Aquatic Biology (Biology 450) at Marietta College.
The Sextant was written by Dave McShaffrey in 1989 (although it wasn't called The Sextant then). It has been revised several times since. In 1997, when it was time to produce the study guide for the class, a problem arose. The files were WordStar 6.0 files; there was no computer handy with WordStar. It meant either loading WordStar (all those disks) or converting the files to a newer standard. While WordStar (and NewWord before it) was an admirable word-processing program, it was time to move on, and this hypertext document is the result. A further update was completed in 2001-2002
All text and images copyright 1997-2002 by Dave McShaffrey. Text and images may be used for non-commercial, educational purposes with attribution.
Physics Chemistry Habitats Respiration Excretion Locomotion Senses Feeding