Pierre Vernier

Pierre Vernier was born in Ornans, France in 1580. He was a French mathematician and an instrument inventor. He created the Vernier scale which he named after himself in 1631. This device was an improvement on its precursor known as the nonius from Pedro Nunes . The Vernier scale allows a distance or angle measurement to be read more accurately and precisely than reading a straight or circular measurement scale. It's a sliding scale used to indicate where measurement lies between two of the marks on the main scale. This scale is commonly used for navigational instruments, scientific experiments used for conducting experiments, and as a measuring tools (with calipers or micrometers). When taking a measurement, it is read off a fixed scale which then uses the vernier scale to give a more accurate measurement so that one does not have to estimate the amount. The unit N is the number of divisions to show a finer level of measure. There are two types of graduations for the vernier scale: N-1 for direct vernier which has a smaller graduation and N+1 for retrograde vernier which has a larger graduation which all start from a zero point.