The instrument collection is a collection of non-powered scientific instruments owned by the Foundation and on load to the Transhuman House. Many of these are ones that were purchased as they relate to books in the Foundation library and includes things like Astrolabes, Abacus, Sextants, Slide Rules and the like. Many of there are brass and collector items but all are working versions.
the Hero Image above sits over the fireplace at the transhuman house. from left to right this is a Quadrant, Abacus, and Astrolab.
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. [ wiki ]
The abacus (plural abaci or abacuses), also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool that was in use in Europe, China and Russia, centuries before the adoption of the written Hindu–Arabic numeral system and is still used by merchants, traders and clerks in some parts of Eastern Europe, Russia, China and Africa. [ wiki ]
Astrolabe – an instrument formerly used to make astronomical measurements, typically of the altitudes of celestial bodies, and in navigation for calculating latitude, before the development of the sextant. In its basic form (known from classical times), it consists of a disk with the edge marked in degrees and a pivoted pointer. [ wiki ]