Editing Vernier scale (section)

==History==
{{See also|Calipers#History|Micrometer (device)#History}}
The first caliper with a secondary scale, which contributed extra precision, was invented in 1631 by the [[France|French]] mathematician [[Pierre Vernier]] (1580&ndash;1637).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vernier |first1=Pierre |title=La Construction, l'Usage et les Propriétez du Quadrant Nouveau de Mathématique |trans-title=The Construction, Use, and Properties of the New Mathematical Quadrant |date=1631 |publisher=Francois Vivien |location=Brussels, (Belgium) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gP8NAAAAQAAJ&pg=PP7 |language=fr}}</ref> Its use was described in detail in English in '''''Navigatio Britannica''''' (1750) by mathematician and historian [[John Barrow (historian)|John Barrow]].<ref>Barrow called the device a Vernier scale.  See:  John Barrow, ''Navigatio britannica: or a complete system of navigation'' ... (London, England:  W. and J. Mount and T. Page, 1750), [https://books.google.com/books?id=u5CBsgTxtIMC&pg=PA140 pp. 140–142], especially page 142.</ref> While calipers are the most typical use of vernier scales today, they were originally developed for angle-measuring instruments such as [[Quadrant (instrument)|astronomical quadrants]].

In some languages, the vernier scale is called a '<nowiki/>'''''nonius'''<nowiki/>'<nowiki/>'' after [[Portugal|Portuguese]] mathematician and cosmographer [[Pedro Nunes]] (Latin -  ''Petrus Nonius'', 1502–1578). In English, this term was used until the end of the 18th century.<ref name="daumas">Daumas, Maurice,  ''Scientific Instruments of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries and Their Makers'', Portman Books, London 1989  {{ISBN|978-0-7134-0727-3}}</ref>  ''[[Nonius (device)|Nonius]]'' now refers to an earlier instrument that Nunes developed.

The name "vernier" was popularised by the French astronomer [[Jérôme Lalande]] (1732–1807) through his '<nowiki/>'''''Traité d'astronomie'''<nowiki/>'<nowiki/>'' (2 vols) (1764).<ref>Lalande, Jérôme (1764), ''Astronomie'', vol. 2 (Paris, France:  Desaint & Saillant), [https://books.google.com/books?id=Z6I-AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA859 pages 859-860].</ref>