Thomas Godfrey (inventor)

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Thomas Godfrey (December, 1704 – December, 1749) was an optician and inventor in the American colonies, who, around 1730 invented the sextant. At approximately the same time an Englishman, John Hadley, also invented the sextant independently.

Godfrey was born on his family's farm in Bristol Township, near Germantown, Pennsylvania.

Benjamin Franklin describes Godfrey at length in his Autobiography, referring to him as a "Great Mathematician" who nevertheless was "not a pleasing Companion", demanding in conversations an "unusual Precision in every thing said."

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