sundials in art, literature, music, and advertising
Dear Fellow Dialers, As research for a talk and book, I am seeking images of sundials in art, literature, music, or advertising. My aim is to explore the iconography of the sundial in diverse media over a long range of time. The sundial in the picture might be central to the message of the work of art (as in an emblem or exhortation not to waste time), or it might be clustered with other objects (as in a scholar's study or with instruments trampled by war), or it might be off to the side as a piece of romantic background furniture (as in a garden scene with lovers or on a wine label).What I am not interested in for this project are plates from dialing books showing the mathematical construction of dials. However, the ornamental title pages or frontispieces of such works can have vignettes of people using a dial, and these would be of interest to me. Also at the NASS meeting in Seattle, we were treated to some sundial music from the early modern period. It was wonderful. I would be grateful to anyone who has the titles, lyrics, or music to send copies to me. If you wish to send me your replies off list in order to include jpegs, please do so. I promise to share the fruits of this search with the list when the project is done. Thanks for your help! Sara -- Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Department of the History of Science Harvard University, Science Center 251c 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hsdept/chsi.html Tel: 617-496-9542 Fax: 617-496-5932 --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
mariner's time-finding instruments [was: Non-terrestrial sundials]
Hi, I changed the heading because at first I got to thinking about that sundial on Mars Yes, there are quite a few sundials that were designed especially for their seaworthiness and other timefinding instruments that were readily adapted for maritime use. The first that comes to mind is the universal ring dial (URD), which being suspended from a shackle and self-orienting, was a featured instrument in numerous manuals written for seaman from the mid-17th century onward. The large examples for sea use have a nautical quadrant on the back for finding latitude by the sun at noon. While the familiar form was invented by William Oughtred in the early 17th century, the URD was related to the astronomical ring of Gemma Frisius of a century earlier. This appears on the inventories for Martin Frobisher's and Sir Humphrey Gilbert's voyages (respectivally 1576 and 1583) along with a self-orienting universal sundial. An azimuth compass is also listed on the inventories. This is essentially a horizontal sundial mounted on a mariner's compass, and so moves on gimbals. It could be used to find time and check the sun's azimuth. Other timefinding instruments that went to sea are the planispheric astrolabe (but rarely), the astrolabe quadrant (one form is the Gunter's quadrant), and the nocturnal (for use at night). Cheers, Sara Lat 42.4N Long -71.1W On 10/13/2007 10:16 AM, J. Tallman wrote: Hello All, Has anyone ever seen a sundial specifically designed for use on a boat or ship? I realize that there are obvious issues re: movement and variable location, but I thought it might be an interesting question for the list to consider from the historical perspective... Best, Jim Tallman www.artisanindustrials.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial -- Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Department of the History of Science Harvard University, Science Center 251c 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 617-496-9542 Fax: 617-496-5932 --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
bone terrestrial globe with sundial
Hello fellow dialists, I am very dubious about the ivory (or bone) globe with the inset sundial on a number of grounds--cartographically, horologically, and stylistically. First cartographically, I do not see this globe as dating from around 1600. The first thematic map showing trade winds was by Edmond Halley in 1686, and an early example of trades winds marked by scattered arrows was that of William Dampier published in 1699. I also do not feel that it is in keeping with other cartography in terms of style and information of the 17th century It seems a mishmash of information and languages. But I don't buy the idea that many hands made this item, adding to it at different times. I think a single person did it by borrowing from different sources. The weight of the engraving is the same throughout. Second, horologically, I need not tell this group that the gnomon is misaligned and misplaced. There is no evidence of it ever being correctly placed, and the metal slot for it suggests that it was intentionally put where it is now. No competent sundial maker or user of this accessory (alleged to have been added to the earlier globe in the late 18th century) would have set it up this way. Moreover, the style of decoration and lettering of the horizontal dial is different from that used for the globe. And are we supposed to think that the early globe was sawed in half at this later date? The marks on the globe do not suggest this rough treatment. The stand appears to be a marriage of later parts. All in all, it makes me queasy. I have seen small ivory globes, ivory globe sundials, small compass sundials inside turned ivory spheres the separate into two hemispheres, and even a compass sundial inside a small ivory celestial globe from the early 17th century. This last item is in the British Museum. None look anything like this. Caveat emptor. Sara Lat 42.4N Long -71.1W On 10/10/2007 7:31 PM, Josef Pastor wrote: Dear Diallists, Exclusive Sundial Offer at EBAY. Does anybody have background knowledge concerning this sundial? http://cgi.ebay.com/Antique-Globe-engraved-in-Bone-with-Sundial-inside_W0QQitemZ250174150059QQihZ015QQcategoryZ63593QQcmdZViewItem Kugelsonnenuhr in Genthin (Germany): Altenplathower Sonnenuhr (1810) soll von Schweizer Fachmann restauriert werden: http://www.volksstimme.de/vsm/nachrichten/lokales/genthin/?sid=0e2db9ab8943a7c818ad1c0fe9114797em_cnt=472182 http://www.volksstimme.de/vsm/nachrichten/lokales/genthin/?sid=0e2db9ab8943a7c818ad1c0fe9114797em_cnt=472182 Best regards Josef Pastor --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial -- Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Department of the History of Science Harvard University, Science Center 251c 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 617-496-9542 Fax: 617-496-5932 --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
Re: Commentary on Sacrobosco's De Sphaera
Dear Roger, Lynn Thorndike's edition of Sacrobosco and his commentators is well known and well-read by historians of astronomy, such as myself. But thanks for calling it to the attention of others, and for letting all of us know that it has been digitized. All best, Sara Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Department of the History of Science Harvard University, Science Center 251c Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 617-496-9542 Fax: 617-496-5932 --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
Planetary hours
At 04:03 AM 5/16/2007, fer de vries wrote: So far as I know this time sytem isn't seen on any real sundial. Planetary hours do appear on a fair number of renaissance sundials and astronomical compendia. They are usually given in the form of a table of information that assigns the ruling planet for each hour. This table is associated with a scale of unequal (or seasonal) hours. So despite the subtlety to which Drecker refers, it seems to me that most users of the planetary hours in practice used the durations of seasonal hours for their purposes. As for whether Sacrobosco saw a distinction, as Drecker claims, I would need to read Sacrobosco's words in context. It might be that by a strict (modern) definition there was a distinction, but that Sacrobosco and later scholars like Clavius did not recognize it or think it sufficiently important given the terms of precision in which they worked. In this, as in all things related to past dialling, we must be very careful not to apply modern expectations of precision to earlier works. Sara Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Department of the History of Science Harvard University, Science Center 251c Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 617-496-9542 Fax: 617-496-5932 --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
Re: owning images, Fair Use and such...
At 09:10 PM 11/2/2006, Gerard Hughes wrote: So, I can publish the words of a Shakespeare sonnet that I copied from a 17th century volume, assuming that the very same words and orthography appear in other extant copies of the volume. By this reading, no old work can be considered public domain **or** copyrightable unless it is compared character by character to **all** existing copies in the world to determine a list of variances. Each work with a unique variation is automatically copyright by the owner of that physical copy but presumably if two or more copies exist with that variation then it is public domain--unless the same owner has those copies. Clearly this idea of copyright is untenable. Yes, I misspoke here with the last clause. Apologies for adding to the confusion. I agree that you don't have to cover the text letter by letter. Any text of that age is in the public domain. A museum or rare book library's ownership of an old book does not permit it to copyright the content (i.e. words) of the book . They don't own that intellectual property--its in the public domain. What they own is the book itself and the right to grant permission for the publication any photographic depictions of it. This is what I was trying to say. Sara Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Department of the History of Science Harvard University, Science Center 251c Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 617-496-9542 Fax: 617-496-5932 --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
owning images
It is too bad that this dialogue has led to John C. throwing up his hands in dismay and removing his website, saying that we have taken all the fun out of it. As a historian and museum curator, I know how hard it can be to follow these rules, but the final product is well worth the effort. Many people are truly in the dark about the use of images of objects owned by others. They deserve our patience and guidance. Copyright issues are just one piece of the situation. Sometimes the owner of an object may be a private collector or institution that would rather not publicize his/her/its ownership for privacy or security reasons, although they may be willing to have the image published. (This came up for discussion by the NASS board when it created the sundial register on its website. It was decided that one could not post the location or image of a privately held sundial--particularly an antique garden instrument--without the owner's permission.) Other times, the owners just want to make sure the use is appropriate, and not, say, commercial or perverse. John P's thoughtful message shows another area of confusion: At 01:49 AM 11/2/2006, John Pickard wrote: If you want a nightmare of copyright and IP on images and other material, try some of the public libraries who have copies of old photos. I have seen the identical photo taken in 1910 in five different libraries, and each library is claiming copyright in the photo. What a load of bull! They may own the physical print, but they sure don't own the copyright! Historical materials may be protected by the estate of the original creator, but more often they are under the jurisdiction of the present institutional owner. This is true even in the cases where multiples were produced or printed, as in say early books, prints, maps, photos, and illustrations. In such situations, the text or graphic is not copyrighted if it exceeds a certain age, but the image of a particular object embodying that text or illustration is copyright protected by the owner of the book, map, photo, etc. So, I can publish the words of a Shakespeare sonnet that I copied from a 17th century volume, assuming that the very same words and orthography appear in other extant copies of the volume. But I cannot reproduce an image of the page without the permission of the library or person that owns the particular volume that I consulted. That page is one of a kind, with its blemishes, annotations, and provenance. Happy research and dialling! Sara Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Department of the History of Science Harvard University, Science Center 251c Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 617-496-9542 Fax: 617-496-5932 --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
SICU2 Workshop
Attached is an announcement of a workshop of interest to members. Please distribute via your listserv, newsletter, or website. My apologies for cross-postings. --Sara Schechner ~~~ First Announcement SICU2 : An International Workshop on Historic Scientific Instrument Collections in the University 21-24 June 2007 in Oxford, Mississippi Sponsored by The Scientific Instrument Commission and The University of Mississippi, with funding from the National Science Foundation. In June 2004, an international conference on Scientific Instrument Collections in Universities (SICU) was held at Dartmouth College. The SICU conference brought to light significant collections and began organizing a group of scholars with common interests in formalizing university and college collections. However, much remains to be done to address the unique challenges faced by those who deal with these collections and to increase awareness among those who may not recognize the importance of their collections. To continue where the first SICU conference left off, the University of Mississippi will host the SICU2 workshop in June 2007. The aim of this workshop is to solidify the foundation for finding, describing, organizing, preserving, and utilizing the vast resource of instrument collections available in academic institutions worldwide. We seek an interdisciplinary gathering of people who care for university collections, as well as historians, scientists, educators, curators, archivists, and others who are interested in helping the SICU community achieve : 1. increased access to more collections by getting scientists and educators more involved in efforts to expand scholarly research using historical instruments. 2. improved security and preservation of more collections by expanding efforts to build a practical resource for stewardship of historical instruments. 3. increased use and appreciation of more collections by developing and sharing creative ways of exhibiting, reproducing, studying, and recognizing historical instruments. During the SICU2 Workshop, an expanded exhibition of The Millington Barnard Collection of Natural Philosophy Demonstration Apparatus will be on display at the University Museum, and both Barnard Observatory (1859 replica of the Poulkovo Observatory) and Kennon Observatory (with the largest Grubb telescope in the U. S.) will be open for tours. If there is sufficient interest, a post-workshop excursion may be planned to attractions in the Mississippi Delta and Memphis. The University of Mississippi is in Oxford, longtime home of William Faulkner and 70 miles southeast of Memphis, Tennessee. Lodging will be available at The Inn at Ole Miss. Transportation between Memphis International Airport and Oxford will be provided. For those who may wish to extend their stay, North Mississippi, the Delta, and the Memphis areas provide many literary, cultural and historical attractions. The formal call for papers will be distributed in October. A limited number of travel grants will be available to graduate students, junior scholars, and international participants; applications for these will be available in October. The Workshop web site ( http://www.olemiss.edu/~sicu2web/ ) has more details. Feel free to contact us ( [EMAIL PROTECTED] ) if you are interested in participating in the workshop, to ensure that you receive future announcements. --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
Benjamin Franklin Exhibition
Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What's a sun-dial in the shade? ---Benjamin Franklin exhibition announcement--please share--- What do you know and how do you know it? Today we are surrounded by self-help literature and how-to guides. While Franklin did not create this how-to universe, this most celebrated of self-made Americans did much to shape it. Benjamin Franklin: A How-To Guide Exhibitions in two Harvard venues commemorating the 300th anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Franklin The Circulation of Knowledge Houghton Library June 5 September 23, 2006 Science and Sociability Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments June 5- December 22, 2006 In recognition of the 300th anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Franklin, three scholarsJoyce E. Chaplin, Sara J. Schechner, and Thomas A. Horrockshave joined forces to curate a two-part exhibition that is simultaneously on display in two Harvard venues and explores the self-help theme from two perspectives. At Houghton Library, the exhibition examines the Circulation of Knowledge, focusing on how information was made public. At the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, the focus is on Science and Sociability, exploring how science was part of a social context that prized human interaction and collaboration. The exhibition features rare books, broadsides, manuscripts, scientific instruments, natural history specimens, art, and music. Topics include How to be Charming, see Clearly, do an Experiment, learn Things, get the Word Out, do Good, be a Political Animal, see the World, win Friends and influence People, be Benjamin Franklin. Some of the books and pamphlets were written, printed, owned, or used by Franklin. These include Franklins Plain Truth, Poor Richard almanac, and works on electricity, swimming, and numerous topics. Other items influenced his life and work. Among them is the manuscript in which John Hancock appoints and instructs Franklin and Thomas Jefferson to make a treaty with France in 1776. Another is one of only 25 surviving copies of the first edition of the Declaration of Independence. Personal letters between Franklin and Jefferson, David Hume, and various men and women round out the image of the man. Notable scientific instruments include electrical apparatus that Franklin purchased for Harvard College in the 1760s, Franklins maps of the Gulf Stream, and early bifocal spectacles of his design. Also on display are scientific instruments owned by friends of Franklin, including Joseph Priestley and Antoine Lavoisier, the chemists who independently discovered oxygen; John Jeffries, a physician and balloonist who delivered the first air mail letter to Franklin; and Charles Willson Peale, an artist who established a famous, national museum in Philadelphia. A wild turkey from Peales museumstill stately after 200 yearsis on display to help explain why Franklin wanted this bird to be our national symbol. Support for this exhibition is generously provided by: The Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History Houghton Library, Harvard College Library Department of the History of Science, Harvard University. . For images, more information, and a humorous announcement of the exhibition in the form of an 18th century broadside, please go to http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hsdept/chsi/chsi_bf_intro.html For a press release written by the Harvard College Library, see http://hcl.harvard.edu/news/2006/ben_franklin.html The exhibition is free and open to the public. Children must be escorted by an adult. Locations, Hours, and Contacts: Houghton Library Edison and Newman Room, Harvard Yard, Cambridge, MA 02138 Houghton Library Hours: Monday, Wednesday Friday, 9:00 a.m. 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, 9:00 a.m. 8:00 p.m. Saturday, 9:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m. Closed on Sunday and University holidays. For information, contact Thomas Horrocks at 617-495-2442 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Science Center 251, Harvard University, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 Summer Hours: Tuesday-Thursday, 11:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m. Fridays, 11:00 am 3:30 p.m. Beginning in September: Monday Friday, 11:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m. Closed on weekends and University holidays. For information contact Sara Schechner at 617-495-2779 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
Re: museum dials
Thanks!! That's what they pay me for. :-) Sara At 10:03 AM 5/15/2006, Frank Evans wrote: I thought Sara Schechner's scholarly identifications of Marcin Egert's photographs was quite breathtaking. Frank 55N 1W Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Department of the History of Science Harvard University, Science Center 251c Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 617-496-9542 Fax: 617-496-5932 --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
Re: instruments help
instrument_13, instrument_14, instrument_15 - it's an astrolabe. What I'm not sure is the back part. How to read the scale ? What's that ? The astrolabe (shown incomplete in images 13, 14) is Flemish, circa 1550. It maybe from the workshop of Arsenius in Louvain. The back of the mater (photo 13) is a universal astrolabe projection known as a De Rojas astrolabe projection. It can be used for telling time. I do not see the shadow square (image 15) on the astrolabe (13-14). It appears to be on the instrument piece shown in image 19. And I'm not sure about instrument_19. Looks like a part of an astrolabe but exactly which one ? From the shape I would say ot's rete, but when I look at engravements it looks more like the back side of the instrument. 19 is a tympan from a Flemish astrolabe and might fit the one shown in images 13-14. Your photo is not clear enough to make out the outer scales, but they two outermost are likely a zodiacal calendar scale and a civil calendar scale. The top of the typman (on the left of the photo) is a type of hour scale showing both equal and unequal hours. Below this (to the right in the photo) is a shadow square. instrument_4 - any help ? calendar ? astrolabe ? This looks to me like the base of a small planetarium or portable orrery from the 18th or early 19th century. The paper shows concentric calendar scales correlating the sun's place in the zodiac and the civil calendar. It is not part of an astrolabe. instrument_5 - quadrant. Any extra info ? Extra help ? Your photo is too small to read the words on the instrument. Also I cannot tell where the instrument ends. Is the paper pasted to the wood? It shows a protractor or semicircle divided by 180 degrees. Without more information, I cannot say whether it is part of a surveying instrument like a graphometer, or part of an artillary level, or part of something else. instrument_6 - it looks like an old mass dial. Am I right ? No. It is an equatorial sundial, missing its gnomon. It would work only in the summer when properly inclined for the latitude. instrument_9 - sundial ? how does it work ? This is an altitude sundial known as a Zappeck type after the Polish maker who made many of them. You set the pointer to the proper date, and flip the gnomon pin up and over to the other side where the hour scale is. Then you hang the sundial vertically and turn until the shadow of the gnomon falls directly on the hour scale. instrument_11, instrument_12 - I can see a small sundial, and quadrant, but altogether what's that ? This looks like an altazimuth theodolite with a small sundial attached. It is odd. instrument_17 - compass with kardan suspension. But the scale ? Is it magnetic declination or something else ? This is a surveyor's compass that was probably for use on a plane table. instrument_18 - quadrant. If you have any additional and interesting info please share This is a type of surveyor's quadrant known as a geometrical square. It is both the shadow square and the divided scale of degrees. Your photo is too small to tell exactly what is inside the degree arc, put I suspect that these are scales of hours and azimuths. instrument_3 - ? part of a German miner's compass. Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Department of the History of Science Harvard University, Science Center 251c Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 617-496-9542 Fax: 617-496-5932 --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
armillary of Father Schall
A few comments on the so-called fake armillary sphere and the image. 1) The man in the image is Johann Adam Schall von Bell, S.J. (1591, Cologne-1666, Beijing), a Jesuit astronomer and missionary who went to China in 1622 and became an influential advisor to the first emperor of the Ch'ing dynasty. You can read about him on many sites, and see finer versions of the engraving at http://www.uni-muenster.de/FNZ-Online/expansion/europ_expansion/quellen/schall.jpg http://www.dgok.de/dgok-ausstellung30-matteo-ricci.html (where he is joined by the two other most famous Jesuit astronomers in China, Ricci and Verbiest) In the image under discussion, Father Schall is shown with the primary, portable astronomical instruments of his day--the quadrant, cross staff, mariner's astrolabe, a celestial globe, armillary sphere, planispheric world map, chart (on table), dividers, bow compass, square, rule, book (under the table), and surveying semi-circular instrument on the wall. In the group portrait, he may have a pillar sundial on the table behind him. 2) I would not call the armillary instrument a fake armillary. It is just a poorly-depicted armillary sphere. The same can be said for the surveying instrument on the wall. It is not uncommon for instruments to be misrepresented by artists. Cheers, Sara Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Department of the History of Science Harvard University, Science Center 251c Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 617-496-9542 Fax: 617-496-5932 --- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
Re: Sundials in the movies
Hi Len, There is a nice universal ring dial on a pedestal in the background of Mr. Bennett's study in the recent 6-hour version of Pride and Prejudice. Sara Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Department of the History of Science Harvard University, Science Center 251c Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 617-496-9542 Fax: 617-496-5932 -
Exhibition extended: Bringing Nature Inside
Hi, Our exhibition by guest artist, Rosamond Purcell, has been extended by popular demand until June 10th. Here are short and long versions of the announcement for listing purposes and information. I am attaching an image from the exhibition as well. We would love for your paper to list this event in your calendar or cover it. Any questions, please give me a call. Sara Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Department of the History of Science Harvard University, Science Center 251c Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 617-496-9542 Fax: 617-496-5932 = Harvard University Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Bringing Nature Inside examines natural history, classification, early museums, and the authority of vision and experience in the 17th century. Working from the celebrated frontispiece and catalogue of Worm's Museum, or the History of Very Rare Things, Natural and Artificial, Domestic and Exotic, Which Are Stored in the Author's House in Copenhagen (1655), Rosamond Purcell, has reconstructed the private museum of a Danish professor of medicine, Ole Worm (1588-1654), by using natural history specimens and ethnographic objects borrowed from collections at Harvard and elsewhere in the United States. In recreating Worm's world, Purcell, an installation artist, and Sara Schechner, a historian of science and the exhibition curator, explore not only the place of Worm's cabinet among other early museums and the ways he organized his collection, but also the issues that arose in representing nature through the sense of sight. (through June 10, 2005) Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Special Exhibition Gallery, Science Center, Room 251, 1 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA 02138. (617-495-2779) Open: Monday - Friday, 11 am - 4 pm. Closed on University holidays. Admission Free. = Where can you go to see an extinct auk next to a camera obscura...the conjoined skulls of a two-headed sheep...an anamorphic mirror...a chair made of a whale vertebrae...a plant giving birth to a vegetable lambplus wondrous optical instruments, picture stones, insects, narwhal tusks, poisons, fossils, harpoons, and rhino horns? **Exhibition Announcement* Bringing Nature Inside 17th Century Natural History, Classification, and Vision Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Department of the History of Science, Harvard University Special Exhibition Gallery Science Center, Room 251 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 617-495-2779 Guest Artist: Rosamond W. Purcell Curator: Sara J. Schechner, Ph.D The David P. Wheatland Curator of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Dates: through June 10, 2005 Hours: Monday - Friday, 11-4 closed on University holidays Working from the celebrated frontispiece and catalogue of Worm's Museum, or the History of Very Rare Things, Natural and Artificial, Domestic and Exotic, Which Are Stored in the Author's House in Copenhagen (1655), Rosamond Purcell, has recreated the private museum of a Danish professor of medicine, Ole Worm (1588-1654), by using natural history specimens and ethnographic objects borrowed from collections at Harvard and elsewhere in the United States. In recreating Worm's world, Purcell, an installation artist, and Sara Schechner, a historian of science, explore not only the place of Worm's cabinet among other early museums and the ways he organized his collection, but also the issues that arose in representing nature through the sense of sight. As we move from the engraving to the reconstructed room, we are confronted immediately with these questions: How many layers are between us and the room? Can we peel this box back--as in an anatomy dissection--to see the bones and organs of the collection and their relationships to each other? Are we really seeing the thing in itself or just an artistic representation of it? Are the specimens drawn as archetypes or individuals? How do the monstrous and anomalous fit in? These questions were relevant to Worm and his contemporaries, too. One distinguishing characteristic of early modern science was the emphasis on learning through the observation of Naturethrough empiricism and experimentand not just through the study of texts. Worm firmly believed that vision was the most trustworthy sense for natural history investigations. He assembled his museum collection as a resource for teaching. The 17th century was also an age of new optical instruments that enhanced or skewed vision. Lenses, mirrors, telescopes, microscopes, and prisms were heralded as aids to vision and tools to analyze and dissect the world, but others accused them of distorting Nature and creating optical tricks. These instruments brought new worlds into view, gathered information, fragmented it, reassembled it, and dispersed it. Drawing instruments and engravings
Re: Danti's numbers
about! Nice transcription and explanation for those who are unfamiliar with it! Sara -
Re: Sundial at Santa Maria Novella Florence
The solar instruments built into and on the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence were *not* constructed by Alberti but by Egnatio Danti. These include: (1) an armillary sphere on the facade--built in 1574 for determining the time of the vernal equinox by the sun's shadow. (2) an astronomical quadrant on the facade--also built in 1574 for observing the equinoxes and solstices, to determine the length of the year, and check the value of the obliquity of the ecliptic. (3) the meridiana--i.e., the gnomon (a hole in the circular window 21.3 m high) and meridian line drawn on the pavement inside the church, upon which the solar image fell. It was built soon after the first and second instruments, but not completed. His intention was to count the days between the reappearances of the sun at the same equinox in order to determine the length of the tropical year. By loose definition, any of these could be called a sundial, but I assume you are referring to the gnomon and meridian. Without knowing the placement of the numerals you mention, I cannot interpret them for you (I don't have a picture of the meridian in front of me). For more information on this and similar meridians, you might enjoy looking at John Heilbron's book, _The Sun in the Church_. Best wishes, Sara Schechner Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Department of the History of Science Harvard University, Science Center 251c Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 617-496-9542 Fax: 617-496-5932 -
Re: Wappen
Many solnhofen and other stone sundials have coats of arms on them. The Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum (Chicago) has many examples from the early modern period (say, 1550-1800). Contact Devon Pyle-Vowles, the collection manager, or Bruce Stephenson, curator, for images. Sara Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Department of the History of Science Harvard University, Science Center 251c Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 617-496-9542 Fax: 617-496-5932 -
Re: sundial for the blind
Yes, I did have a modified sunshine recorder in mind, but with the touch band not right at the focus of the sphere but adjacent to it--for the reason you specify (risk of burns). It also occurred to me that a small sphere might not focus too much light. I need something that will work in a wide range of temperature. Summers in Boston get up in the 90s and even over 100 degrees F. Winters are can be at 0 degrees F, but then again the sundial is likely to be covered in snow! The Zeist dial mentioned by Fer is interesting in its use of a photovoltaic cell. Thanks for the reference to the dial in Regents Park. Please send me directly the image in larger format. Best, Sara -
Re: Sundial and small birds
year! One who is studying Spanish in school enjoyed translating the page for me, and she laughed at Alicia baptizing the birds Gnomon and Style. (Rápidamente, cuando mi hija Alicia vio las fotos, los bautizó con los nombres de Gnomon y Estilo.) Thanks for sharing this. Sara Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Harvard University, Science Center 251c 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge MA 02138 617-496-9542 (Tel) 617-496-5932 (Fax) -
Italian hours in Poland and Bohemia
A colleague of mine, Shlomo Sternberg, is researching the timing of events (like the birth of a child or the start of a new day) in Poland during the 18th and 19th centuries. His sources suggest that Italian hours were used in Poland and Bohemia until sometime in the early modern period, but there is a discrepancy between them. He would like to know if anyone has a firmer grasp on the period of this transition. (His letter is below and he can be reached directly via his email address). To Professor Sternberg's question, I would like to add the following: How far beyond the borders of Italy was the Italian hour system used?Many sundials made in Germany during this period were calibrated in common hours (1-12 twice with 12 at midnight and noon), Babylonian hours (also known as Bohemian hours, 1-24 starting from sunrise) and Italian hours (1-24 starting from sunset). Sometimes the combination system of Nuremberg hours appeared (1-12 from sunrise, 1-12 from sunset). However, the appearance of those hours systems on a sundial does not indicate that all systems were used in the place of manufacture; some were intended for use in the regions to which the portable sundial was taken by its traveling owner. Were any clocks or time keepers set to read in the Italian or Nuremberg systems? Or was this just a feature of time finding instruments like sundials? Thanks for your help. Sara From: Shlomo Sternberg [EMAIL PROTECTED] Here is my question: I want to know when the transition took place in Poland from the use of the Italian clock (with the 24th hour ending 1/2 hour after sunset) to the German(24 hr) or the twelve hour clock with the day ending at midnight. Ginzel in his Handbuch der mathematischen und Technischen Chronologie - Chapter XIV paragraph 235 (p. 95) writes that by the 18th century the Italian hours were no longer in use in these lands (including Bohemia and Poland). Bigourdan in his Le jour et ses divisions - p. 31 writes that that the Italian hours were in use in Prague until the end of the 18th century. This difference of a century is important to me. So I would like to find out, if possible, what the facts are. All help will be appreciated. Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Harvard University, Science Center 251c 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge MA 02138 617-496-9542 (Tel) 617-496-5932 (Fax) -
Re: Sundials for children
On the other hand, the 'dance of the planets' proposed by Sara was a complete success. Dear Anselmo, I am delighted that the kids had fun with that! I enjoyed seeing the picture on the website. Best, Sara Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Harvard University, Science Center B-6 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge MA 02138 617-496-9542 (Tel) 617-496-5932 (Fax) -
Re: On gnomonics and children
The illustrations are very nice in the booklet noted below, but they make extensive use of copyrighted Charlie Brown/Lucy/Snoopy Peanuts characters, which appear to be pirated. I really don't know whether this is OK legally or ethically, but my hunch is that it is not. Any opnions from the list? Bill Gottesman I have to agree with Bill that unless the authors got permission to use the Peanuts characters, the booklet violates international copyright laws. Sara Schechner -
Re: Stained Glass Sundial Photos
does anybody know of ANY stained glass dials in the United States or Canada? I bet there are none. Not so fast, John. I know of one fine example in the collection of the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum. It's 16th century. Cheers, Sara Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Harvard University, Science Center B-6 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge MA 02138 617-496-9542 (Tel) 617-496-5932 (Fax) -
Re: On gnomonics and children
I have often done outreach programs on astronomy and time finding for children aged 6-10. The best thing is to keep the concepts very simple and lead the children through various activities. Do not assume that they even know why the sun rises or what it's motion through the sky appears to be, why the moon has phases, or why the North Star makes a good star for navigation. To teach about day and night, and as a lead in to sundials, I use a globe and flashlight. The globe has a pole through its axis, and we can also watch the shadow of the pole. I also use a flashlight and a stick-gnomon set up in the center of a circle marked with cardinal points. As the flashlight sun moves, the kids observe the changing length and direction of the shadow of the gnomon. Kids this age are too young to understand how to use a star finder (planisphere). But you can give them papers with connect-the-dot constellations to help teach them to recognize constellations. A flashlight planetarium is also fun thing to make. Create a human planetarium. Kids love this! Start with one kid as the sun. Have her rotate. Add another kid as the earth, which is rotating and revolving around the sun. Then add the moon kid who just needs to run around the earth in circles as the earth is going around the sun. It is easier said than done. It's very funny, and gets the kids laughing. I also have the kids make cardboard telescopes and simple sundials, use diffraction gratings and ultraviolet detecting beads, meteorites, and more. A colleague and I have designed various cut-and-paste astronomical instruments to illustrate astronomical points as well as the history and culture of astronomy. The type I use and the depth of information and activities are tailored to the age of the children. We have an arrangement with an educational supply house to manufacture the kits and distribute them with curricular ideas to teachers and others. Good luck and have fun! Sara Writing today as: Gnomon Research / Outreach Adventures 459 Crafts Street, West Newton, MA 02465 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Harvard University, Science Center B-6 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge MA 02138 617-496-9542 (Tel) 617-496-5932 (Fax) -
unequal hour lines
I am working on a project that involves the traditional unequal hour lines (also known as seasonal and temporal hours) on a horary quadrant and an astrolabe. In other words, I want to get the right arcs for use on an instrument that measures altitude of the sun and makes use of a solar declination scale along the radius of the instrument. These arcs would be latitude specific, as on traditional instruments. What techniques have list members found to construct them? Do you use data points plotted? geometric construction? Thanks for the advice and input!! Happy Dialing, Sara 42.38 N, 71.13 W Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Harvard University, Science Center B-6 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge MA 02138 617-496-9542 (Tel) 617-496-5932 (Fax) -
MHS website
I have this from a curator at the MHS, Oxford. You should see the site back again now - though the database-dependent parts are not working at present. We were hacked into 2 weeks ago So the server should be up and running again. Best, Sara -
Re: Museum of the History of Science web site problems?
problem. Sara -
Re: Benjamin Franklin on Sundials...
Funny that Franklin's ongue-in-cheek piece on a cannon dial is mentioned today, as I have recently been discussing it with a colleague. For those who want the reference, it comes from _Poor Richard's Almanack_. I have wondered whether Franklin passed on the idea to Chevallier in Paris during his years in France, and this prompted Chevallier to create the cannon dial familiar to us today. Sara 42.3 N 71.0 W Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Harvard University, Science Center B-6 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge MA 02138 617-496-9542 (Tel) 617-496-5932 (Fax) -
RE: sundial classification
Alt-az: a pin-gnomon: telling the time depends on both the altitude and azimuth of the sun to place the tip of the pin on the time scale Thanks, Ian. Since my first writing, I too have been slowly coming to the same conclusion--i.e., that pin-gnomon dials are projections of altazimuth coordinates, and not just azimuth or altitude. Now, to apply your logic to universal ring dials. The gnomon slides along the polar axis, and the hour scale is on an equatorial (equinoctial) ring, which makes the dial an hour-angle dial. But the working gnomon is a point-aperture that must be adjusted for the sun's declination on a given date, and rotated until the spot of light falls on the hour scale. Is the second time-telling parameter the sun's altitude, azimuth, or altazimuth? Further thoughts, anyone? Sara -
Re: sundial classification
Let me clarify my terminology. I used directional as a category because it is the traditional name for this group and the one used by historians and curators. Frankly, like most of you, I prefer hour angle. So let's use that for the discussion. I don't think RA is appropriate here, since the sun's RA is very specific for each day of the year. When I refer to altitude dials or azimuth dials, I am *not* saying that the only thing the dial shows is altitude or azimuth. Any of these projections can be calibrated to give many kinds of information. What I am referring to by the labels is the principal thing that is used to layout the shadow and find the time. Hour-angle sundials all project the sun's hour angle onto some surface, whether the equatorial plane, a horizontal, vertical, or what have you. An altitude dial is calibrated by means of the suns altitude, once the user points it towards the sun at whatever azimuth it happens to be at that moment. The sun's height is the critical thing. In an azimuth dial, the sun's azimuth is the primary focus. Now, a pin-gnomon dial, or any other nodus suspended/supported above a surface, casts its shadow in accordance with the sun's altitude and azimuth. It seems to me that the azimuth is giving the hour points along radial lines (not originating at foot of gnomon), with the position on the line being determined by the sun's declination/altitude at that time of year. However, I would like confirmation of this line of thinking. At 01:02 PM 1/6/03 +, Chris Lusby Taylor wrote: Equatorial dials, including universal ring dials, are themselves self-orienting, but, rather than combining two distinct projections, they do not use projection. They are the very dials that we see projected in the other cases. I disagree with this, as the sun's altitude is projected through the pierced gnomon sliding on the bridge onto the equatorial surface. The rotation of the bridge and the rings to bring the spot of light onto the hour scale lines then takes advantage of the sun's azimuth to orient the meridian ring with N-S. Fer commented on the importance of the type of gnomon: pole-style or nodus-style. I agree that gnomon type--whether a line or point--is important, as is its orientation to a dial surface, but I think that this is subsidiary mathematically to the gnomon's orientation to the celestial sphere or altazimuth coordinates and which primary coordinates are projected onto the surface. (To this end, I like Chris's description of the classic analemmatic dial as an instrument in which the directions of the projections of the equatorial circle are parallel to the different gnomons. --Incidentally, classic analemmatic sundials were made in an inclinable, folding, pocket-sized form for travellers in the 17th century.) Augsburg-type refers to a common type of universal equatorial sundial primarily manufactured in Augsburg from about 1675-1825. Makers include Johann Martin, Johann Matthias Willebrand, Lorenz Grassl, and many others. Keep the comments coming! Sara -
sundial classification
In preparation for a catalogue of historical sundials, I have been organizing the dials into classes based on the principal feature of the celestial sphere or altazimuth coordinate projected onto the dial surface. I would like your feedback on the list below. It appears to me that self-orienting sundials combine two distinct projections. Do you agree? What are they in the specific cases? Here's the draft list followed by the ones I have questions about: I. Directional sundials--project the hour angle of the sun onto the dial surface horizontal--particular (fixed latitude) plate garden string-gnomon compass floating cannon reclining horizontal--universal (multiple latitudes) Butterfield-type inclinable vertical--particular (fixed latitude) direct south (north, east, west) facing declining equatorial--particular garden inclined plate bow-string or crossed-Cs form equatorial--universal universal equatorial Augsburg-type Augsburg-type with cam mechanical equatorial spherical or globe polar--particular multiple-faced--particular polyhedral cruciform cube multiple-faced--universal diptych polyhedral inclinable cube inclinable cruciform inclinable II. Altitude sundials [generally for particular latitudes but some can be made universal] ring pillar vertical plate vertical disk rectilinear--Capuchin rectilinear--Regiomontanus-type rectilinear--navicula De Rojas-type scaphe horary quadrant III. Azimuth sundials simple azimuth--particular pin-gnomon ?? analemmatic ?? magnetic azimuth--particular magnetic azimuth and universal multiple-faced Bloud-type diptych IV. Astronomical compendia--instruments that combine multiple time finding instruments, maps, or mathematical tables in a single package. Here are the problematic ones for me-- Where should these be placed? Universal ring dials and crescent dials--these are self-aligning, and so must be more than simply directional equatorial dials. Are they combinations of hour-angle and altitude sundials, or something else? horizontal (or vertical) pin-gnomon--e.g. a sundial with a vertical-(horizontal)-stick gnomon often used to display Italian or Nuremberg hours or to show time and date (or place of sun in zodiac) or lengths of daylight. ?? is this an azimuth dial?? Oughtred-type dial (also called the double horizontal dial) --a combination of a a horizontal plate dial with a polar gnomon and one with a vertical-stick gnomon--self-aligning ?? is this a combo hour-angle and azimuth sundial?? Analemmatic dial (modern form) with elliptical hour scale--is this an azimuth dial? Analemmatic dial (historical form) is a combination of a directional horizontal sundial plus an elliptical analemmatic sundial on the same plate. It is self-aligning. Heliochronometer--standard definition? A solar chronometer that uses the sun to find mean time directly. Where would this go in the classification? An equatorial dial with a date cam? Thanks for the help! Sara -
RE: corrupt IgNoble instruments
I presume that this dial was patterned after an equatorial dial with a polar gnomon. That's a good theory, Roger, but it doesn't explain why its latitude arm is graduated backwards and has too limited a range or degrees! This poor creature is like some Frankenstein's monster. But I am sure that you are right in general about people's expectations for the triangular gnomon. Cheers, Sara -
corrupt instruments
A few days ago, I wrote about the poor quality of so-called authentic, replica instruments on the market: What bugs me about this kind of rubbish is that for all the effort that went into making the castings, the company could just as easily have made them right as wrongIs this just do to ignorance, laziness, or corruptness? One reader took me to task for my use of the word corrupt and perhaps others were equally puzzled. I admit that I was cranky when I wrote that as I had just spent a few days working on a forthcoming catalogue of 400 marvelous sundials in Chicago. But I have given my choice of words some more thought, and I believe the word corrupt was appropriate for our discussion, even if a bit old fashioned. (no apologies for my being a historian) In using corrupt, I was not implying anything devious or underhanded like the taking of bribes to sell stupid instruments to a public that is unaware (as my admonisher thought). Rather, I was using the word corrupt in an older sense to mean the breaking apart or degradation of a complex thing that has died or is no longer used. It was in this sense that Aristotle and his followers up to the 17th century spoke of the changes they saw happening on the Earth. The earthly realm was the site of generation and corruption, of growth and decay. The word corrupt has a long history of this use. We speak of a corrupt text to refer to a text that has been altered greatly from its original form after many printings or manuscript copies have been circulated. The signal-to-noise ratio has gone down (to use a radio metaphor). The words to popular songs are corrupted, sometimes to comical effect. Scientific theories are also often corrupted as they become popularized and simplified. The horoscopes in the daily papers or weather forecasts in the farmers' almanacs have only the dimmest resemblance to the astrological systems of the 16th century (not that these were more reliable). So, my thought was perhaps that sundials as mathematical instruments have become degraded over time with less use by the public and declining expectations for them to work (perhaps because modern people think that sundials like astrology never really worked well). Cheers, Sara Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Harvard University, Science Center B-6 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge MA 02138 617-496-9542 (Tel) 617-496-5932 (Fax) -
Re: corrupt instruments
Doesn't the US have any consumer protection legislation to say that products must be fit for the advertised purpose? Yes, of course, it does, as does each State. ---This brings me to another thing that bugged me about the Noble Company. I could not find any place of business on its website. There is an implication that it is a US company, but the 800 phone number and email address do not tie it to any locale. Even if one wanted to file a claim, where would you do it? OK. Enough on the Noble Company. They don't really deserve the ink (or electrons). I am going to turn my attention to something more worthwhile, the sundial catalogue I'm writing. Back to the universal ring dial section Sara -
igNoble instruments
I took a look at the Noble Collection of scientific instruments. They are all very weird and fanciful. From what I can see, most don't work. For instance the meridian circle is improperly divided on the armillary sphere and it cannot be rotated for one's latitude. The waywiser is a mini brass version of a surveying instrument that is made of wood and 4x larger. No mariner ever used such a compass in gimbals--it would never have been supported that way, and the sextant appears to be missing its vernier and possibly its half-silvered horizon glass. The image of the universal ring dial is too crude to see if it would work, but the mounting is absurd. The pan balance is equally suspect. The write-ups for each instrument are full of historical errors as well. What bugs me about this kind of rubbish is that for all the effort that went into making the castings, the company could just as easily have made them right as wrong. With all the modern factory tools, the company has no excuse. When I compare the quality of this modern day junk to that of the handmade instruments of the past, I want to cry. The same goes for the garbage sold as sundials in garden centers. Is this just do to ignorance, laziness, or corruptness? Sara -
Re: Ron Anthony
Sara -
Re: Analemmatics /social classes of dial users
At 07:44 AM 10/25/02 -0700, John Carmichael wrote: I thought it was great when you volunteered to cut the stone in my studio at the conference! Alas, I don't think anybody took your picture. I think when people saw you make a sucessful stone engraving on your first try it inspired some of them to try their hands at carving. I loved having a go at your workshop, and have since been all revved up to try my hand at it at home, once I find the time---oh, about next February. It was so much fun. You were really so generous and trusting to let me near your stone with a sharp tool! [and if anyone did get a picture of my hands-on experience, I'd love to have a copy.] As for your new tabletop analemmatic, I have to say it was gorgeous. Personally, I like the chess piece gnomon better than one attached by some mechanism. One risks losing it, but there is a sweetness about the chess piece design and different feeling of interacting with the dial. Hey a quick question I've been carrying around since you gave your wonderful talk on travelers of old who used portable sundials. All those beautiful antique pocket dials for travelers now cost thousands of dollars in auction. But back then, in the old days, how expensive were they? How many days would the average worker have to work to be able to buy one? Could only the rich afford them? This is a difficult question to answer in brief as the rates varied from place to place and over time. The short answer, which I gauge from surviving sundials, is that sundials were made to match peoples' pocketbooks. When rich and poor had the same kinds of dials, the quality of material and workmanship varied. For instance, a pillar dial for an aristocrat was typically made of gilt brass and silver; one for a merchant or priest might be of ivory; one for a student or tradesmen might be of printed paper on wood; that for a shepherd, of incised wood or bone. Moreover, although the rich had access to every kind of dial, they shunned some types that were favored by the poor or middling sort. For more examples, please see my article, ìThe Material Culture of Astronomy in Daily Life,îJournal for the History of Astronomy 32 (2001): 189-222. All the best, Sara
Re: A New That's Cool Analemmatic
As I read your description, I also wondered why we haven't seen more small analemmatic dials. It (now) seems like a perfectly natural idea! When you mentioned having an attached, sliding gnomon, I had a vision of a mechanical means of placing one. I wouldn't think it would be the ideal plan for a stone dial like yours. On the other hand, it might be appropriate for a metal instrument, like one of Tony Moss's brass sculptures. For the record, table top and portable analemmatic sundials were made in the 17th century. These all had gnomons that slid within a track so that they would not get lost. On the pocket-sized versions, the gnomons folded down for easier packing. I showed an example by Thomas Tuttell at the NASS meeting. Sara Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Harvard University, Science Center B-6 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge MA 02138 617-496-9542 (Tel) 617-496-5932 (Fax) -
Re: Time Museum auction
By the way, an article in The Sunday Times (Oct 6th) suggested that the museum might have been set up with the intention of providing a provenance to these objects with a view to just such a sale. I note that Sotheby's catalog seems to rely heavily on the museum as the root of provenances. Any comments? That is an interesting suggestion. It gives one pause. But I must say that in my 20 years' association with the Time Museum and the family whose private collection this is, I never got that impression. Sara Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Harvard University, Science Center B-6 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge MA 02138 617-496-9542 (Tel) 617-496-5932 (Fax) -
Re: Query
but the arcane bit of knowledge I had never heard before was that the man (name forgotten) who studied and then defined the line from which all North American sundials are calibrated (if that is the word) had established that geographic point in this city of Indianapolis. I have never heard this nor seen any evidence of this past or present. Sounds rather ridiculous to me on many levels--astronomically, geographically, gnomonically, culturally, . Cheers, Sara Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Harvard University, Science Center B-6 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge MA 02138 617-496-9542 (Tel) 617-496-5932 (Fax) -
Re: sunspotter
marvellous. The optics are serious telescope quality. It's a very easy and safe way to see sun spots and to draw them. Great for use with kids; and astronomers find it clever too. Sara Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Harvard University, Science Center B-6 Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 617-496-9542 Fax: 617-496-5932
Re: Classify sundials?
A brave attempt - there seem to be as many classification systems for dials as there are diallists. I believe that the professionals writing museum catalogues have their own classification system but I've not found out where it's written up - anyone know? I can't respond very fully to this at this time, as I'm at a meeting of the Scientific Instrument Commission in Stockholm this week. However, this topic has been discussed on this list before, and I would say that there are standards for dial classification, and these are published in works by myself and my colleagues. More on this later. For now: 1. The type of hours that the dial is intended to indicate is significant eg equal, temporary, Babylonian, Italian etc. yes 2. The dial plate may be movable, as in most of the card-dials etc. By movable, I assume you mean portable as opposed to fixed dials. BTW, I note that you classify the shephers' (or cylinder) dial as having a movable gnomon, whereas I would say the gnomon is fixed - it always points south - whilst the dial plate rotates with the date behind it. This is mistaken. In a pillar dial, once the gnomon is set to the date, the instrument is turned until the gnomon points in the direction of the sun's azimuth at that moment. It is only due south at solar noon. Otherwise the gnomon is easterly or westerly. At 06:56 PM 10/15/01 +0100, Chris Lusby Taylor wrote: By the way, John, could you please note in the BSS Glossary that the correct term for a diagonal scale (used to interpolate the shadow edge between successive hour lines) is a nonius, from Pedro Nuñez, the Portuguese inventor. I do not think that this is right. I think you are referring to a transversal rather than a nonius. Happy dialling, Sara Dr. Sara Schechner David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Harvard University, Science Center B-6 Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 617-496-9542 Fax: 617-496-5932
Re: Memorial sundial
New Yorkers, when I say that it is still too early, too painful to have this discussion. Our dead have not been gathered up. The smoldering debris will take six months to remove. The enemy has not been routed and are still among us.But if I know New Yorkers' spirit, they will not turn this space into a memorial of twisted steel, but a glittering, exuberant, soaring (if not in height than in spirit) cathedral to international commerce and humanity. It will be a phoenix rising from the ashes. Heroic. Sara
Re: To All Living in the US
Just to say i couldn't agree more with such words. Sometimes Shadows aren't so wonderful as we thought. Let the sun shine again to all of the U. S. A. inhabitants. Thanks to all for your gentle thoughts. Some words about shadows. Part of the horror of yesterday was that in the Boston -New York-Washington corridor it was such a beautiful, crisp, sunny autumn day. Blue skies, lush green trees, sunshine-filled yards and windows.And then to contrast that natural beauty with the man-made terror and destruction--it made me sick. I have close family and personal ties to NY (where I grew up and my family lives and works), DC (where I last lived and worked), and Boston (where I now work). My brother was a block away from the World Trade Center when it collapsed. He seems okay, but the personal toll of friends and relatives has yet to be realized by many of us. Perhaps some comfort may be taken from an old sundial motto I found in my researches: Light and dark by turns, but love always. Sara Sara Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Harvard University, Science Center B-6 Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 617-496-9542 Fax: 617-496-5932
Re: Moore dial in Chicago
recall the dial being so far off tilt. Let me forward the question to the current Adler staff to see if we can get an answer. Sara
Re: La Meridiana della Basilica di San Petronio in Bologna
The books on the meridian by Paltrinieri sound great. What is the best way to order them? Sara 42° 22' N 71° 2' W Dr. Sara Schechner David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Harvard University, Science Center B-6 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel:617-496-9542 Fax: 617-496-5932
Re: Armillary Spheres in Portugal
In the 16th century, the exploitation of navigation technology brought to Portugal tremendous wealth and power. Henry's nephew, Manuel I, King of Portugal from 1490 to 1520, was a key beneficiary of this enterprise. Manuel adopted the armillary sphere as his royal symbol. This symbol expresses the theme Technology conquers the Universe. It is incorporated as a key feature in Manueline architecture as the new found wealth was poured into the construction of palaces, castles, cathedrals and monasteries. This is very interesting to me and ties into some research I'm doing for a book about armillary spheres and related models of the universe. I would love to know more about the use of armillary spheres as a royal symbol of Manuel I and others. The English Court in the 16th century also employed armillary spheres as symbols of power in paintings and pageantry. For example, bejeweled armillary spheres bedeck Queen Elizabeth in various portraits. Thanks for sharing this, Roger. If anyone else has information about the symbolic use of armillaries, I'd love to hear from you off the list (if others find the topic not sundial-related enough). Cheers, Sara Dr. Sara Schechner David P. Wheatland Curator Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Harvard University, Science Center B-6 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel:617-496-9542 Fax:617-496-5932
Re: beaded analemma date sequence
John Carmichael wrote: We noticed that the Shadows sundial generator program has analemmas with the following dates of each month: 1,6,11,16,21,26. Why would this sequence be better than: 1,5,10,15,20,25? I won't venture to guess the motivation of creator of the Shadows program, but I will offer a historical reason. On historical astronomical instruments and in astronomical texts, the zodiacal calendar took priority over the civil calendar. If the civil calendar appeared, it was adjacent to the zodiacal calendar, showing that the date that the sun entered each sign was around the 21st of the appropriate civil month (after the Gregorian reform of the calendar). For example, the vernal equinox--the date that the sun entered Aries--was on March 21st. On many sundials, whether one is marking the sun's path through the ecliptic, solar declination, the seasons, or the analemma, it makes more sense from the geometry of the earth-sun system (which gives the traditional starting dates of our seasons) to mark scales primarily in terms of the sun's apparent motion through the signs. So when the figure-eight analemma was introduced to instruments, it too was marked zodiacally. However, over time people became more removed from the zodiacal calendar than the civil calendar. The zodiacal scale was dropped leaving the civil. But the zodiacal date markers remain as a vestige of that heritage. Happy dialling, Sara -- Dr. Sara Schechner Curator, Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Harvard University, Science Center B-6 Cambridge, MA 02138 tel: (617) 495-2779 fax: (617) 496-5932
analemmatic sundials
What a great idea! I wonder why nobody has mention this novel interactive horizontal dial before. My client wants to donate a sundial to the university, but since it is in a very public place we wanted a design as vandal-proof as possible. Analemmatic sundials are a genre of interactive sundials well known to many dialists, if not to the general public. Even so, in recent years I have had specific requests to paint them on school blacktops and design them for outdoor learning centers. They are always a big hit with kids and grownups alike. Hal Brandmaier and I created two for the Smithsonian. One was at the National Design Museum in NYC across from Central Park, and another was on the National Mall in Washington, DC. I would not say that they are absolutely vandal-proof. It all depends on how the hour and solar declination markers are fixed into the ground. When paving stones or flat markers are set into grass, they can be mowed over or have lawn chairs placed on top of them for outdoor concerts. (These were requirements of the Smithsonian contract, for instance.) What these dials lack (often) is a sculptural presence. They are defined by a flat environment, which while attractive and inviting up close, is typically unrecognizable or invisible from a distance. In this regard, people are not drawn up to them. They work best when the spatial environment has some vertical feature to draw the eye in. Sara current address- Dr. Sara Schechner Center for History of Physics American Institute of Physics 1 Physics Ellipse College Park, MD 20740 Tel: 301-209-3166 / Fax: 301-209-0841 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Gnomon Research 1142 Loxford Terrace Silver Spring, MD 20901 Tel/Fax: 301-593-2626 http://www.wam.umd.edu/~sschech [EMAIL PROTECTED] --after Sept 1st Dr. Sara Schechner Curator, Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments History of Science Department Harvard University Science Center 235 Cambrdige, MA 02138
Re: Baltic sundials/ St. Petersburg
There is a nice collection of historical sundials in St. Petersburg's Lomonosov Museum, which is in the old Kunstkammer. I am helping the curator, Tatiana Moisseeva, to catalogue it. Also check out the Hermitage, which has some sundials. I saw them last fall after hours and don't know if they are on public display. They might be in a private wing of the palace. A colleague of mine, a curator in Stockholm, may know of any dials there. I'll forward your message to him. Have fun! Sara 39:00N 77:01W --- Sara Schechner, Ph.D. Center for History of Physics American Institute of Physics 1 Physics Ellipse College Park, MD 20740 Tel: 301-209-3166 / Fax: 301-209-0841 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Gnomon Research __Curators on Call __Outreach Adventures 1142 Loxford Terrace Silver Spring, MD 20901 Tel/Fax: 301-593-2626 http://www.wam.umd.edu/~sschech [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Using a carpenter's scale for a sundial
This rings a bell with me. If memory serves me correctly, I recall seeing some Renaissance mathematical instruments like sectors or folding squares that had hour scales on them. These were scales not for laying out sundials (dialling scales were not uncommon on these instruments), but were scales to be used for telling time. They worked as altitude dials. When the two arms of the instrument were opened to form a right angle, and a gnomon pin was placed in a hole on one arm, its shadow would fall on the other arm's scale. A carpenter's square, suitably inscribed, could be used in a similar manner. Cheers, Sara Schechner 39:00 N 77:01 W
conference announcement
THE INSPIRATION OF ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA -- THIRD CONFERENCE Palermo (Sicily), Italy -- December 31, 2000-January 6, 2001 CALL FOR APPLICATIONS AND PAPERS Dear Colleague: We wish to inform you of the up-coming Third International Conference on The Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena (INSAP III). This meeting will explore mankind's fascination with the sky by day and by night, which has been a strong and often dominant element in human life and culture. The conference will provide a meeting place for artists and scholars from a variety of disciplines (including Archaeology and Anthropology, Art and Art History, Classics, History and Prehistory, the Physical and Social Sciences, Mythology and Folklore, Philosophy, and Religion) to present and discuss their studies of the influences that astronomical phenomena have had on mankind. The first two meetings (Castel Gandolfo, 1994; Malta, 1999) successfully brought together for the first time people from just such a range of disciplines to address topics of common interest. Papers from the first meeting were published in Vistas in Astronomy (1995) and in Leonardo (1996), and those from the second will appear shortly in book form. These papers (described on our Website under the First (or Second) INSAP Conference) give an idea of the range of subjects presented at these meetings. A similar publication is planned for the third meeting. The meeting will be held overlooking the Mediterranean, a few minutes from the center of Palermo, and will start with a New Year's Eve (and Millennium Eve) banquet December 31, 2000. The meeting rooms will include ample space for display (and sale) of works of art by attendees. Full information on INSAP III and on the earlier conferences, and an application form for the upcoming meeting, can be found on our Website (http://ethel.as.arizona.edu/~white/insap) or obtained from the undersigned. Attendance will be by invitation from among those applying. All presentations and discussions will be in English. This Conference is sponsored by the Palermo Observatory, the Vatican Observatory, and the Steward Observatory, and is hosted by the Palermo Observatory as part of the bicentennial of the discovery there of the first asteroid, Ceres, on the nights of January 1-3, 1801. Please circulate or post this announcement. Prof. Salvatore Serio, Palermo Observatory (Chair, Local Organizing Committee) ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Dr. Rolf M. Sinclair, Chevy Chase MD (International Organizing Committee) ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Prof. Raymond E. White, Steward Observatory (International Organizing Committee) ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Re: Sundials in a bowl
The Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum in Chicago has 3 skaphes of brass, bronze, and silver, of Italian, German, and French origins and dates ranging from about 1550-1800. In addition, the museum has a number of polyhedral and multiple sundials made of wood, silver, and ivory, which have prominent skaphes. I know of others in various collections. Sara
Re: Classifications
Wow, Ron, I'm impressed by this language stuff! Let me play around with it for a few days and see how it works. Patrick, You asked whether I have tried to classify multiple dials, Saxon dials, mass dials, stained glass dials, cruciform dials, heliochronometers, armillary dials, etc. The short answer is Yes. I have considered all these forms and more. The Adler catalogue has roughly 60 types within its collection of 500 time finding instruments. Of necessity I have classified them all. In my email, I didn't bother to itemize each form or put them into classes and subclasses. I would like to work with the BSS and the sundial list to take this forward. I will post a list in a few days. I have some reservations about the way the BSS list is organized. For instance, I see cruciform sundials as just a special case of polyhedral dial. Other cases are cube dials and various regular and irregular polyhedrons. All are hour-angle instruments in which multiple sundials are combined on a single object. (Sorry about the delay in putting up my list for comment, but I'm finishing a draft of an essay for a journal. It deals with historical sundials as evidence of human values and consumer culture. It draws upon my work for the Adler catalogue and a book I'm writing with the title Sundials, Science, and Social Change.). More soon. I think if we work together, we can come up with some good stuff. Cheers, Sara NASS Secretary 39.02 N 77.01 W
Re: Classification of sundials
Dear Frans, I visited your website yesterday and think it is great. Really nice images! With respect to the question of classification of sundials raised by Fritz and yourself, it seems to me that this picks up on the topic of sundial taxonomy that was discussed on the list in February. In case you missed it, I will copy my classification system below. I use this method to delineate what might be called a natural history of sundials with genera, species, and familes. Like any system of taxomony, there are many ways that it can be done. Rather than divide the world into the genera of nodal and pole-style dials (i.e., of whether we are projecting a point or a line onto the hour scale), I prefer as my main classes the parameter of the sun's motion that we are using. The sun's apparent motion, being basically an astronomical relationship between the earth and sun, seems to me to be more fundamental than the gnomon. But that is my personal preference, and the one I use in my cataloguing of historical sundials at the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum, and elsewhere. Here is what I wrote in February 2000. It gives my general principles. If people would like to comment on a specific breakdown of types, I can post that later. I think it is useful to divide sundials into major classes based on what parameters of the sun's motion are being used to measure the time. Such classes would include hour-angle, azimuth, altitude, and combinations. Particular types within each major class are then identified by the orientation of the hour plate (e.g., horizontal, vertical, declining, inclining, equatorial, polar, or other aspects of the surface on which the hour lines are projected), the nature of the gnomon (e.g., string-gnomon, pin-gnomon, etc), whether the instrument is particular or universal (i.e. for a set latitude or adjustable for multiple latitudes), whether it is fixed or portable, and other special characteristics that distinguish particular forms (as in the case of a cannon sundial, compass sundial, floating sundial, polyhedral sundial, diptych, magnetic azimuth dial, universal ring dial, etc). When there are many examples of a particular type that share historical characteristics of time and place of origin (e.g., Augsburg-type) or debt to an important designer (e.g. Butterfield-type, Oughtred-type, Regiomontanus-type, de Rojas-type), these are given special names. But these special names should be used sparingly. Lastly, one needs to specify what the dial is indicating. This may include hours (common, Babylonian, Italian, mean, etc), seasons or calendar dates, solar declination, sun's position in the ecliptic, lengths of daylight or darkness, and so forth. The information displayed does not alter the class of the instrument and only rarely distinguishes one type from another. I would also like to urge us to use the traditional names where they exist and not invent or use new names. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but let me go on record as saying that I think it causes public confusion for marketers (with all due respect) to rename ring dials as aquitaine dials, armillary/equatorial dials as explorer dials, and so forth. Cheers, Sara 39:02 N 77:01 W --- Sara Schechner, Ph.D. Center for History of Physics American Institute of Physics 1 Physics Ellipse College Park, MD 20740 Tel: 301-209-3166 / Fax: 301-209-0841 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Gnomon Research __Curators on Call __Outreach Adventures 1142 Loxford Terrace Silver Spring, MD 20901 Tel/Fax: 301-593-2626 http://www.wam.umd.edu/~sschech [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Singleton Classification
First, thanks Fer for confirming that a monofilar dial does not necessarily have to have a thread, string or cable gnomon. This was confusing. I am very much against using monofilar in this way. It is confusing and unhelpful. It seems to me that monofilar should refer to a special case of string-gnomon. Sara
sundial taxonomy
Hi Everyone, I too have been watching the discussion on so-called azimuth sundials and have been concerned about the confusion in terminology. I want to second remarks made by Gianni Ferrari and John Davis. I think it is useful to divide sundials into major classes based on what parameters of the sun's motion are being used to measure the time. Such classes would include hour-angle, azimuth, altitude, and combinations. Particular types within each major class are then identified by the orientation of the hour plate (e.g., horizontal, vertical, declining, inclining, equatorial, polar, or other aspects of the surface on which the hour lines are projected), the nature of the gnomon (e.g., string-gnomon, pin-gnomon, etc), whether the instrument is particular or universal (i.e. for a set latitude or adjustable for multiple latitudes), whether it is fixed or portable, and other special characteristics that distinguish particular forms (as in the case of a cannon sundial, compass sundial, floating sundial, polyhedral sundial, diptych, magnetic azimuth dial, universal ring dial, etc). When there are many examples of a particular type that share historical characteristics of time and place of origin (e.g., Augsburg-type) or debt to an important designer (e.g. Butterfield-type, Oughtred-type, Regiomontanus-type, de Rojas-type), these are given special names. But these special names should be used sparingly. Lastly, one needs to specify what the dial is indicating. This may include hours (common, Babylonian, Italian, mean, etc), seasons or calendar dates, solar declination, sun's position in the ecliptic, lengths of daylight or darkness, and so forth. The information displayed does not alter the class of the instrument and only rarely distinguishes one type from another. I would also like to urge us to use the traditional names where they exist and not invent or use new names. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but let me go on record as saying that I think it is causes public confusion for marketers (with all due respect) to rename ring dials as aquitaine dials, armillary/equatorial dials as explorer dials, and so forth. Cheers, Sara --- Sara Schechner, Ph.D. Center for History of Physics American Institute of Physics 1 Physics Ellipse College Park, MD 20740 Tel: 301-209-3166 / Fax: 301-209-0841 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Gnomon Research __Curators on Call __Outreach Adventures 1142 Loxford Terrace Silver Spring, MD 20901 Tel/Fax: 301-593-2626 http://www.wam.umd.edu/~sschech [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Sundials at Train Stations
Dear Ken, I recall that there are sundials at train stations around the US. I think that we may have seen 2 in Chicago's near north suburbs during the NASS dial tour there in 1997. One was by Stephen Luecking in Highland Park, IL. (images are at http://www.depaul.edu/~slueckin/founderspage.htm). Another was an analemmatic sundial (exact location eludes me right now, possibly Glencoe?). And I recently heard of one installed by New Jersey Transit in a station in South Orange, New Jersey. (my home town, although I had nothing to do with this, much to my father's chagrin!) Cheers, Sara --- Sara Schechner, Ph.D. Center for History of Physics American Institute of Physics 1 Physics Ellipse College Park, MD 20740 Tel: 301-209-3166 / Fax: 301-209-0841 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Gnomon Research __Curators on Call __Outreach Adventures 1142 Loxford Terrace Silver Spring, MD 20901 Tel/Fax: 301-593-2626 http://www.wam.umd.edu/~sschech [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Pictures of Noon Mark
Yes, until the 19th century, it was not uncommon for people to set their watches and clocks by means of sundials. In the earlier period, sundials were more accurate than clocks. Noon marks, whether from a sundial like those you mention or produced by a dipleidoscope (a 19th c. invention), were expressly for this purpose. Sara --- Sara Schechner, Ph.D. Center for History of Physics American Institute of Physics 1 Physics Ellipse College Park, MD 20740 Tel: 301-209-3166 / Fax: 301-209-0841 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Gnomon Research __Curators on Call __Outreach Adventures 1142 Loxford Terrace Silver Spring, MD 20901 Tel/Fax: 301-593-2626 http://www.wam.umd.edu/~sschech [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Sundial Glossary
In response to John Carmichael and John Davis, who discussed the BSS glossary project: I have been working on preparing a glossary of sundial terms, with international comparisons. This will be part of the forthcoming interpretive catalogue of 500 historical sundials that I'm writing for the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum (Chicago). Some time ago, I also agreed to allow NASS to publish a version as well for use by dialists. I think it would be wise to pool our information or prepare a jointly authored and jointly sponsored work. I would very much like to work on such a project. But I think this is a matter for the Boards of the BSS and NASS to decide. It has not yet been discussed by us. As for the glossary being part of a FAQ list, I tend to think that is not the place for it. Some basic terms should definitely be defined in the FAQ list, but most of the glossary may well be arcane to the average person. Remember that a FAQ list is meant for newcomers to a field. The simpler the FAQ list--the more rudimentary the material--the better it will serve those newcomers. This is a case where less is more. Otherwise you will scare those newcomers away. (here I'm wearing my museum curator/educator/exhibit designer hats) That is not to say that there is no place online for hefty substance and nitty gritty details. There could be a site with information of use to more advanced dialists. A full glossary could still be put online sometime if either society saw fit. Sara Schechner NASS Secretary 39N 77W --- Sara Schechner, Ph.D. Center for History of Physics American Institute of Physics 1 Physics Ellipse College Park, MD 20740 Tel: 301-209-3166 / Fax: 301-209-0841 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Gnomon Research __Curators on Call __Outreach Adventures 1142 Loxford Terrace Silver Spring, MD 20901 Tel/Fax: 301-593-2626 http://www.wam.umd.edu/~sschech [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Umbra recta et umbra versa
Dear Mario, In my experience as a curator, I have seen many 16th century scientific instruments with shadow squares--including surveying instruments, quadrants, astrolabes, and sundials--in which the scales are divided into 60, 100, or other numbers of parts. I believe that this was done for greater accuracy in the calculations. Happy Holidays, Sara Sara Schechner Genuth, Ph.D. Gnomon Research __Curators on Call __Outreach Professionals 1142 Loxford Terrace Silver Spring, MD 20901 301-593-2626 (tel/fax) [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dear all, I am facing an ivory portable altitude sundial datable to the late 16th century. His drawing is very similar to the one shown by Cristoforus Clavius, at page 647 of his work +ACI-Gnomonicae libri octo+ACI-. On the back of it there are two scales of the +ACI-umbra recta+ACI-(horizontal) and +ACI-versa+ACI- (vertical). They are two styles, one called +ACI-quadrato geometrico per misurare ogni lunghezza+ACI- (geometrical square to measure every length) and divided in 60 +ACY- 60 parts. The second one is called +ACI-Scala altimetra di gradi 100 per misurare ogni altezza da lontano+ACI- (Altitude scale of 100 degrees, to measure every far height) and divided in 12 +ACY-12 partitions. This second scale carries on the border of the quadrant a partition in 100 degrees fit in a squared angle (centesimal degrees). Well, there is a thing that I don't know, and I would like to understand. I know that altitude scales for horizontal and vertical shadows are usually divided in twelve, why the first one is divided in sixty both sides? Why the existence of the centesimal partition, when usually were ninety? And more, why draw two different scales to measure height and length when usually is enough only one? Is there some one that may help me in the knowing of this puzzled matter? Regards Mario - Mario Arnaldi Viale Leonardo, 82 48020 LIDO ADRIANO - Ravenna Italy E-Mail marnaldi+AEA-linknet.it -
historical sources for some old stories
Hi! I'm trying to track down the sources of two oft repeated stories about sundials. The first story concerns Eleanor of Aquitaine who in 1152 allegedly gave Henry II a ring dial to remind him of the time of their trysts. The second story concerns the gift of a universal ring dial from the Marquis de Lafayette to George Washington in 1777. I've not found concrete evidence for either story. I wonder whether anyone can point me to published accounts, footnotes, documentation, or archival evidence that gives creedence to these stories. Thanks! Sara Sara Schechner Genuth, Ph.D. Gnomon Research Customized Curatorial Services 1142 Loxford Terrace Silver Spring, MD 20901 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.wam.umd.edu/~sschech
Re: Portable equatorial sundial
I recently received, as a gift, a necklace-sized equatorial sundial. However, the instuctions are in French (my French is not very good) and in badly-translated English, so I can't figure out how to use it. There are two rings: an outer sliding ring that can be set to the proper latitude (I live in Denver, Colorado, USA -- about 40 degrees north, I believe), and an inside ring which rotates to be perpendicular to the outer ring. The outer ring is marked with latitudes and decorations. The inner ring is marked with roman numerals. There is a needle down the center, fixed to the outer ring, with a small sphere in its center. How do I use this sundial? Particularly: -- do I need to point it exactly north, or just roughly towards the north? -- should I be looking for the shadow of the needle or of the small sphere? -- the numerals go all the way around the inner ring -- why? will the shadow ever fall on the southern side of the ring? Please respond directly to [EMAIL PROTECTED], as I am not a subsciber to the list. Thank you for your help! Cara Hart -- Cara Hart [EMAIL PROTECTED] Systems Administrator ARITEK Systems, Inc. Dear Cara, What you have is a modified form of universal ring dial (aka universal equinoctial ring dial). These dials first appeared in the early 17th century. In the original form, the axial wire had a slider that was adjusted up and down the axis for the sun's declination, which changes daily. Usually there was a calendar scale on the axis for setting the slider. With an adjustable slider the sundial was self-orienting--i.e. it would only give a time reading when it was aligned with the north-south meridian. No compass was required. Hence these dials were often favored by travelers and mariners. Is the bead on your wire adjustable or fixed? I assume it is fixed. In this case your sundial is not self-orienting and operates like a standard equatorial dial. To use it, set the suspension ring to your latitude on the outer ring. This ring represents the celestial meridian. Align the ring along your local n-s meridian using a magnetic compass. The shadow of the bead will be cast on the hour ring (that's the ring at right angles to the meridian ring). You've found the time! At your latitude, the shadow will not sweep around the entire hour scale, but will travel from the time of sunrise to sunset, roughly 4 am to 8 pm. For more on universal ring dials and related instruments, please see my forthcoming catalog of sundials and timefinding instruments at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. The catalog will not only describe 400+ sundials, but will have interpretive essays that offer perspectives on the history, science, and social context of these instruments. Sara Schechner Genuth Gnomon Research Customized Curatorial Services 1142 Loxford Terrace Silver Spring, MD 20901 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel/Fax (301) 593-2626
Re: digital sundial
Daniel Roth answered this query: My interest: a digital sundial. Is such a thing possible with Moire gratings? Yes! [EMAIL PROTECTED] has developed such a kind of sundial. I'd like to add that Robert Kellog of Rockville, Maryland has also designed (independently to my knowledge) a similar sundial, and showed versions of it to those attending the North American Sundial Society's last two meetings. An early description appeared in the NASS journal, The Compendium, 2 (1995): 4-10. He began to offer it for sale in the Dec. 1996 issue. For more information on his design, which he has patented, I suggest people contact him at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sara Schechner Genuth NASS Secretary Sara Schechner Genuth, Ph.D. Gnomon ResearchTel/Fax: (301) 593-2626 Customized Curatorial Services Internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 1142 Loxford Terrace Silver Spring, MD 20901 Center for History of Physics Tel: (301) 209-3166 American Institute of Physics Fax: (301) 209-0882 One Physics Ellipse Internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED] College Park, MD 20740 National Museum of American History Tel: (202) 357-2216 Room 1040, MRC 605Fax: (202) 786-2851 Smithsonian Institution Internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Washington, D.C. 20560
Sundials in Chicago and Northern Illinois
Hello! The North American Sundial Society (NASS) will meet in September 1997 in the Chicago area. We will visit the collections at the Adler Planetarium and Time Museum. We also hope to look at outdoor sundials on buildings, in gardens, parks, cemetaries, or wherever we can find them. Please help us to draw up a list of sundials in the Chicago area or northern Illinois. Thanks for your help! Sara Schechner Genuth NASS Secretary Local Arrangements Co-Chair, 1997 meeting Gnomon Research tel/fax: (301) 593-2626 Customized Curatorial Services internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 1142 Loxford Terrace Silver Spring, MD 20901 Center for History of Physics tel: (301) 209-3166 American Institute of Physics fax: (301) 209-0882 One Physics Ellipse internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED] College Park, MD 20740 National Museum of American History Room 1040, MRC 605 tel: (202) 357-2216 Smithsonian Institution fax: (202) 786-2851 Washington, D.C. 20560 internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
NASS 1997 meeting, call for papers
For those who missed it the first time round, here is a second announcement. Please feel free to cross-post the attached on other lists or distribute this to friends and colleagues. Meeting Announcement Call for Papers The North American Sundial Society will hold its annual meeting on 11-14 September 1997 in Chicago. Highlights will include visits to the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum (Chicago) and the Time Museum (Rockford) in order to inspect their early time-finding instruments. A tour of modern sundials in the Chicago area is also planned. The program committee invites papers on all aspects of dialling, including the history, culture, design, fabrication, and science of sundials. Exhibits and short show-and-tell demonstrations are also welcome. Abstracts (up to 500 words) must be submitted by June 1st. To submit an abstract, learn more about the conference, or receive registration forms, please contact: Sara Schechner Genuth, Center for History of Physics, American Institute of Physics, 1 Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740; (301) 209-3166; fax (301) 209-0882; internet [EMAIL PROTECTED] The North American Sundial Society was established in 1994 and publishes a quarterly journal, The Compendium, in both print and digital formats. The first two annual meetings were held in Washington, D.C. and Toronto. Membership is international and currently stands at several hundred. For more information about NASS and membership, please contact: George McDowell, 24 Indian Lane, One West, Baltimore, MD 21210; telephone (410) 528-1282 and (410) 435-8306; internet [EMAIL PROTECTED]
tides/scratch dials
Two recommended articles: A.J. Turner, Anglo-Saxon Sun-Dials and the 'Tidal' or 'Octaval' System of Time Measurement, Antiquarian Horology 15 (1984): 76-77. Allan A. Mills, Seasonal Hour Sundials on Vertical and Horizontal Planes, with an Explanation of the Scratch Dial, Annals of Science 50 (1993): 83-93. According to Turner, the word tid meant hour (1/24 of a day) in Anglo-Saxon times as well as time in general--i.e., hora and tempus, to put this in Latin. Later the word tid was extended to refer to any period of time, and in this context was applied to the periods marking the canonical hours, when the clergy were supposed to pray. These canonical hours were three-hours apart: sunrise matins 1st hourprime 3rd hourterce (mid-morning) 6th hoursext(noon) 9th hournones (mid-afternoon) sunset vespers 3rd hour of compline night etc. The supposed octaval system of time-measurement was never used by the Anglo-Saxons, and arises from confusion in interpreting surviving scratch dials on churches which were used to mark the times of prayer. Sara Sara Schechner Genuth Gnomon Research Customized Curatoral Services 1142 Loxford Terrace Silver Spring, MD 20901 tel/fax: (301) 593-7144 internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History Room 1040, MRC 605 Washington, D.C. 20560 tel: (202) 357-2216 internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ Center for History of Physcis American Institute of Physics 1 Physics Ellipse College Park, MD 20740 tel: (301) 209-3166 fax: (301) 209-0882 internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
future meeting/call for papers
Please feel free to cross-post the attached announcement on other lists. Meeting Announcement Call for Papers The North American Sundial Society will hold its annual meeting on 11-14 September 1997 in Chicago. Highlights will include visits to the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum (Chicago) and the Time Museum (Rockford) in order to inspect their early time-finding instruments. A tour of modern sundials in the Chicago area is also planned. The program committee invites papers on all aspects of dialling, including the history, culture, design, fabrication, and science of sundials. Exhibits and short show-and-tell demonstrations are also welcome. Abstracts (up to 500 words) must be submitted by June 1st. For details, please contact: Sara Schechner Genuth, National Museum of American History, Room 1040, MRC 605, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560; fax (202) 786-2851; internet [EMAIL PROTECTED] The North American Sundial Society was established in 1994 and publishes a quarterly journal, The Compendium, in both print and digital formats. The first two annual meetings were held in Washington, D.C. and Toronto. Membership is international and currently stands at close to 400. For more information about NASS and membership, please contact: George McDowell, 24 Indian Lane, One West, Baltimore, MD 21210; telephone (410) 528-1282 and (410) 435-8306; internet [EMAIL PROTECTED]
future meeting, call for papers
Please feel free to cross-post the attached announcement on other lists. Meeting Announcement Call for Papers The North American Sundial Society will hold its annual meeting on 11-14 September 1997 in Chicago. Highlights will include visits to the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum (Chicago) and the Time Museum (Rockford) in order to inspect their early time-finding instruments. A tour of modern sundials in the Chicagoland area is also planned. The program committee invites papers on all aspects of dialling, including the history, culture, design, fabrication, and science of sundials. Exhibits and short show-and-tell demonstrations are also welcome. Abstracts (up to 500 words) must be submitted by June 1st. For details, please contact: Sara Schechner Genuth, National Museum of American History, Room 1040, MRC 605, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560; fax (202) 786-2851; internet [EMAIL PROTECTED] The North American Sundial Society was established in 1994 and publishes a quarterly journal, The Compendium, in both print and digital formats. The first two annual meetings were held in Washington, D.C. and Toronto. Membership is international and currently stands at close to 400. For more information about NASS and membership, please contact: George McDowell, 24 Indian Lane, One West, Baltimore, MD 21210; telephone (410) 528-1282 and (410) 435-8306; internet [EMAIL PROTECTED]
future meeting, call for papers
Forwarded message: From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mon Feb 3 05:12 EST 1997 From: Sara Schechner Genuth [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-Id: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: future meeting, call for papers To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], sundial@rrz.uni-koeln.de, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sun, 2 Feb 1997 23:13:25 -0500 (EST) Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Fred Sawyer), [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Harold Brandmaier), [EMAIL PROTECTED] (George McDowell) X-Mailer: ELM [version for DEANS 2.4-1.6] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Precedence: bulk Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Length: 1544 Please feel free to cross-post the attached announcement on other lists. Meeting Announcement Call for Papers The North American Sundial Society will hold its annual meeting on 11-14 September 1997 in Chicago. Highlights will include visits to the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum (Chicago) and the Time Museum (Rockford) in order to inspect their early time-finding instruments. A tour of modern sundials in the Chicagoland area is also planned. The program committee invites papers on all aspects of dialling, including the history, culture, design, fabrication, and science of sundials. Exhibits and short show-and-tell demonstrations are also welcome. Abstracts (up to 500 words) must be submitted by June 1st. For details, please contact: Sara Schechner Genuth, National Museum of American History, Room 1040, MRC 605, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560; fax (202) 786-2851; internet [EMAIL PROTECTED] The North American Sundial Society was established in 1994 and publishes a quarterly journal, The Compendium, in both print and digital formats. The first two annual meetings were held in Washington, D.C. and Toronto. Membership is international and currently stands at close to 400. For more information about NASS and membership, please contact: George McDowell, 24 Indian Lane, One West, Baltimore, MD 21210; telephone (410) 528-1282 and (410) 435-8306; internet [EMAIL PROTECTED]
universal ring dials and navigation
I 've been on the road for a week and have just logged on from offsite, so I apologise for the lateness and brevity of this reply. With respect to universal ring dials (aka equinoctial ring dials), the bridge carried a pierced slider which was set for the sun's declination. This is what makes this type of sundial self-orienting. One contributor to the sundial list wrote that the dial was adjustable for longitude. This was a typo--he meant latitude. Moreover, sundials _were_ used for navigation from the mid- 17th to the 19th century. I cannot stress this enough. All nautical manuals included a section on sundials, particularly the universal ring dial, which has recently been discussed, and the azimuth compass (which is a combined sundial and magnetic compass, set in gimbals). The universal ring dial was favored by mariners because it was self-orienting, could be used to find north during sunny hours and serve as a check on the ship's steering compass, and did not have to be gimbal-mounted to be effective on board ship. The back of the mariner's univ. ring dial often carried a nautical quadrant, which was used to determine his latitude. [More will be said in my forthcoming catalogue of sundials and timefinding instruments at the Adler Planetarium, Chicago. For more information about this project, or to be notified about its publication, please contact me.] I hope this helps. Sara Schechner Genuth Committee on the History and Philosophy of Science Department of History University of Maryland at College Park Francis Scott Key 2115 College Park, MD 20742 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
astrolabes
Les Cowley wrote: I am looking for a book or references on the mathematics and design of astrolabes. Some useful essays and works on the astrolabe are appended below. It may also interest subscribers to this list, that the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum in Chicago will publish a 2 volume catalogue of its remarkable collection of astrolabes next spring. The first volume is devoted to western astrolabes and astrolabe-quadrants. The second volume is devoted to eastern astrolabes and related Islamic instruments. Both volumes are interpretive--meaning that they contain essays and illustrations setting astrolabes into their social, historical, and scientific contexts. They include a comprehensive bibliography. The principal authors are Roderick and Marjorie Webster, and David Pingree. I wrote the interpretive essay, Astrolabes: A Cross-Cultural and Social Perspective. These two volumes are the first in a series of catalogues, _Historic Scientific Instruments of the Adler Planetarium_. Volumes 3 and 4 are devoted to sundials and timefinding instruments. I am the author of these. Anyone with questions about the Adler catalogues, or wishing to receive early notice of their publication and the opportunity to buy copies, may contact me at the address below. Sara Schechner Genuth Editor Department of Historyphone: (301) 593-7144 Francis Scott Key 2115 fax: (301) 314-9399 University of Maryland email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] College Park, MD 20742-7315 ==Some Astrolabe References== General works on the astrolabe include Robert T. Gunther, The Astrolabes of the World, 2 vols. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1932); Willy Hartner, The Principle and Use of the Astrolabe, in A Survey of Persian Art, ed. Arthur Upham Pope (London: Oxford University Press, 1939), 3: 2530-2554; and Idem, Asturlab, Encyclopedia of Islam, new ed. (1960), 1: 722-728; both reprinted in Idem, Oriens- Occidens, 2 vols. (Hildesheim: G. Olms, 1968-1984), 1: 287- 318; Henri Michel, Trait de l'Astrolabe (Paris: Gauthier- Villars, 1947); Leo Ary Mayer, Islamic Astrolabists and Their Works (Geneva: A. Kundig, 1956); John D. North, The Astrolabe, Scientific American 230 (1974): 96-106; reprinted in Idem, Stars, Minds and Fate: Essays in Ancient and Medieval Cosmology (London: Hambledon Press, 1989), 211- 220; National Maritime Museum, The Planispheric Astrolabe (Greenwich: National Maritime Museum, 1976); Roderick S. Webster, The Astrolabe: Some Notes on Its History, Construction, and Use, 2nd ed. (Lake Bluff: Paul MacAlister Associates, 1984); Sharon Gibbs with George Saliba, Planispheric Astrolabes from the National Museum of American History (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1984); A. J. Turner, Astrolabes, Astrolabe Related Instruments, The Time Museum: Catalogue of the Collection, ed. Bruce Chandler, vol. 1: Time Measuring Instruments, part 1 (Rockford, IL: The Time Museum, 1985); Owen Gingerich, Zoomorphic Astrolabes and the Introduction of Arabic Star Names into Europe, pp. 89-104 in From Deferent to Equant: A Volume of Studies in the History of Science in the Ancient and Medieval Near East in Honor of E. S. Kennedy, ed. David A. King and George Saliba, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 500 (New York: New York Academy of Sciences, 1987); David A. King, Islamic Astronomical Instruments (London: Variorum Reprints, 1987); Idem, Die Astrolabiensammlung des Germanischen Nationalmuseums, trans. Kurt Maier, 1: 101-114, 2: 568-603 in Germanisches National Museum, Focus Behaim Globus, exhibition catalogue edited by Gerhard Bott, 2 vols. (Nuremberg: Verlag des Germanischen Nationalmuseums, 1992).
dial inscription at Oxford
J. Cormack asked about an inscription on a sundial in Oxford on or near the Museum of the History of Science. I tried to respond directly, but found the address given didn't work. I therefore am responding to the entire list, with apologies. To J. Cormack: To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1996 10:40:54 -0400 (EDT) You might be able to get an answer from the chief curator of the the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, whose name is Dr. J. A. Bennett. His email address is: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The museum also operates a Web site at: http://www.ox.ac.uk/departments/hooke/ Good luck. Sara Schechner Genuth Committee on the History and Philosophy of Science Department of Historyphone: (301) 593-7144 Francis Scott Key 2115 fax: (301) 314-9399 University of Maryland email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] College Park, MD 20742-7315
ring dial confusion
In responding to W. Wedemey's inquiry about ring dials, C. L. Taylor and W. Sullivan are in disagreement about their accuracy. In fact, both are right, but they are talking about two different types of sundial. The confusion arises from the term ring dial. Typically, ring dial refers to a simple type of altitude dial in which a suspended, wide ring of brass contains a pierced slider (embedded within the ring) that allows a spot of light to fall on a graduated hour scale inside the ring. The slider is adjustable for solar declination and the inner hour scale is calibrated for the seasons. The crudest versions dispense with the slider and substitute a single pin-hole in the ring. In this case, the interior of the ring has two hour scales (one for winter, and one for summer). There are other variations, which I won't go into here. Although large, complex versions are known to me, they are rare. Typically, ring dials were crudely made in sizes small enough (3-5 cm diameter) to be carried in one's pocket, or poke, and so were sometimes called pokes. Their accuracy was extremely limited, generally dividing time into half- or one-hour intervals. They were particular dials--i.e., made for a fixed latitude. Common folks in the 17th and 18th centuries were very fond of these dials, which were produced in many parts of Europe. I presume this is the type of dial to which Mr. Taylor and Mr. Wedemey referred. I suspect that Woody on the other hand was referring to what is conventionally called a universal ring dial or a universal equinoctial ring dial. Whereas the ring dial is strictly an altitude dial, the universal ring dial is a combination altitude and directional dial. It is also equatorial and universal. This dial consists of a meridian ring suspended from a sliding shackle, which is set for the user's latitude. Nested inside the meridian ring and fixed at the zero position of the latitude scale, there is a pivoting hour-ring, which is set at right angles to the meridian and parallel to the equator, when the sundial is used. The gnomon is a perforated slider set on an axial bridge, which is inscribed with a solar declination scale. A spot of sunlight passing through the slider hole falls on the hour scale and marks the time. The universal ring dial is self-orientating. When not in use, these dials fold flat. They were made in large and small sizes, beginning in the late 17th century. Many had an hour scale divided into two-minute intervals and so offered the prospect of precision. I hope this clears up the confusion. There is much more I can say about these two types of sundials and their history, but will not take up people's time here. ** This information is excerpted from the forthcoming catalogue of ** sundials at the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum, Chicago, ** and should not be quoted without my permission. I am the ** principal investigator of the two volumes on time-finding ** instruments, as well as the Editor of the catalogue series. (It may interest readers to learn that the first two volumes--on eastern and western astrolabes and related instruments--will be published by the Adler Planetarium by next spring.) Sara Schechner Genuth Secretary, North American Sundial Society Committee on the History and Philosophy of Science Department of Historyphone: (301) 593-7144 Francis Scott Key 2115 fax: (301) 314-9399 University of Maryland email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] College Park, MD 20742-7315
Re: Shadow Clock/Sundial Request
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: sundial@rrz.uni-koeln.de Subject: Shadow Clock/Sundial Request I'm looking for information for my father on building a shadow clock for a re-creation of a biblical marketplace at his church. The research I'm seeing so far indicates that shadow clocks were predecessors to the sundial and the sundial was actually being used centuries prior to Christ's life. One contact indicated that shadow clocks and sundials were the same thing - Could you confirm this information or send me somewhere to find a definitive answer? We would like to gather as much information as possible about the time-keeping devices most probably being used during that time, along with details on how to build such a timepiece. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Kim Mullaney Chesapeake, VA [EMAIL PROTECTED] With respect to this inquiry: Shadow clock was just another name for sundial. Shadow clocks were used in ancient Egypt and elsewhere long before the birth of Jesus. Are you requesting references to information about ancient sundials/shadow clocks? Or are you interested in the types that might have been found in a Biblical marketplace? If the latter, how do you define Biblical in terms of time and place? Sara Schechner Genuth Secretary, North American Sundial Society [EMAIL PROTECTED] Committee on the History and Philosophy of Science Department of History University of Maryland at College Park College Park, MD 20742-7315
