What is the only country to have an antique scientific instrument on its national flag?
Click here for the answer; here to see a picture; here for an explanation. Antique scientific instruments may not be the first things that come to mind when the word technology is mentioned, but many were, in fact, key technologies of their day. Many of the instruments that played major roles in the development of science and in its application to practical problems were related to the study of the heavens and to timekeeping. The astrolabe, for example, which is more than 2,000 years old, provides a means of showing how the sky looks at a particular place and time. This allows a user to determine the time of day (using the sun in daylight or a particular star at night), the time of sunset or sunrise (and so, the amount of daylight remaining). It can also be used to help identify specific stars which could then be used for navigation. Telescopes and microscopes have been in use since their invention around the turn of the 17th century. Their development from the simple instruments used
