Sextant
Sextant by David Barrieby David Barrie
Shares rank 28 of 51 history books by recommenders
People recommend it as one of the standard works on sextants, and say sextants are clever devices. Critics raised no complaints.
People recommend it as one of the standard works on sextants, and say sextants are clever devices. Critics raised no complaints.
4 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 4
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 4 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Considered a standard work
“one of the standard works and much recommended”
Comment from 11 Mar 2026 in “U+237C ⍼ Is Azimuth” Sextants are clever devices
“Sextants are damn clever devices”
Comment from 19 Apr 2026 in “The electromechanical angle computer inside the B-52 bomber's star tracker”
Other history books people recommend
The four most recommended other history books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Dawn of Everythingby David Graeber and David Wengrow | 23 | 5 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Cadillac Desertby Marc Reisner | 18 | 0 | 100% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Boxby Marc Levinson | 16 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Sapiensby Yuval Noah Harari | 13 | 9 | 59% | 8 | — | — |
| Sextantby David BarrieThis page | 4 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
2 of the 4 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Sextants are damn clever devices”
“one of the standard works and much recommended”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.