# Sextant by David Barrie

4 Hacker News commenters recommended Sextant by David Barrie and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as one of the standard works on sextants, and say sextants are clever devices. Critics raised no complaints.

## Why people recommend it

- Considered a standard work (1 comments): "one of the standard works and much recommended" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47334873))
- Sextants are clever devices (1 comments): "Sextants are damn clever devices" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47823408))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dawn-of-everything.md): 23 recommend
- [Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cadillac-desert.md): 18 recommend
- [The Box by Marc Levinson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/box.md): 16 recommend
- [Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sapiens.md): 13 recommend
- [Chip War by Chris Miller](https://hackerapproved.com/p/chip-war.md): 13 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0007516584?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780007516582) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Sextant by David Barrie", https://hackerapproved.com/p/sextant/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).