John Serson

John Serson (died 1744) was an English sea captain best known for his invention of a 'whirling speculum'. [Bedini SA, "History Corner: The Artificial Horizon", "Professional Surveyor Magazine" December 1999 Volume 19 Number 10 [http://www.profsurv.com/archive.php?issue=37&article=531] ] This was an early form of artificial horizon designed for marine navigation, consisting of a mirror, attached to a spinning top, that attempted to remain in a horizontal plane despite the movement of the ship. This device can be seen as a precursor to the gyroscope used in modern inertial navigation, although it was not itself a gyroscope. [Turner G, "History of Gyroscopes", "gyroscopes.org" [http://www.gyroscopes.org/history.asp] - account of first test of Serson's speculum]

Serson was lost at sea on the HMS Victory in 1744. [Wagner JF, "From Bohnenberger's Machine to Integrated Navigation Systems, 200 Years of Inertial Navigation", "Photogrammetric Week 05", Wichmann Verlag, Heidelberg 2005 [http://www.ifp.uni-stuttgart.de/publications/phowo05/160wagner.pdf] ]

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