As explained by Fred Sawyer in a recent lecture to the British Sundial Society, if often worked the other way around... people had an equation table and all kinds of rules so that they could adjust their clock so that it matched dial time for as long as possible.
Dial time was (and still is for some) 'true' time. The acceptance of local mean time was a slow process. Likewise the acceptance of national mean time met with a great deal of resistance. In Dorchester in 1858, in the UK, a judge in a court case found in favour of the plaintiff, since the defendant was not present at 10:00 o'clock when the case was scheduled. The court was using GMT. The defendant arrived at 10:00 local mean time - a few minutes late. He appealed and the appeal judge ruled... "Ten o’clock is 10 o’clock according to the Time of the Place and the Town Council cannot say that it is not, but that it is 10 o’clock by Greenwich time. Nor can the time be altered by a railway company.… Nor by any person who regulates the clock on the Town-Hall." Unless you lived in a (maritime) city, or had an astronomer on hand, or a local rich man who went up to the city and owned a chronometer, there was NO way to set a clock without a Sundial. It all changed with the the arrival of the telegraph.... I have found that this is something that watch and clock enthusiasts sometimes forget! Kevin Sent from my iPad > On 7 Oct 2016, at 11:07, rodwall1...@gmail.com <rodwall1...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Hi all, > > In 1730. I think I heard somewhere that. Clock manufacturers also sometimes > gave a small window sundial to allow you to set your clock. With a equation > of time table. Is that correct? > > Roderick Wall.. > > > ----- Reply message ----- > From: "Robert Terwilliger" <b...@twigsdigs.com> > To: "'Ian Maddocks'" <ian_maddo...@hotmail.com>, "'Sundial list'" > <sundial@uni-koeln.de> > Subject: Longcase Clock with Equation of TIme > Date: Fri, Oct 7, 2016 1:00 PM > > If you had a similar clock in 1730 - located where you didn't have access to > another accurate clock, a sundial would be the only way you could set it - > and to do so you would need to know the equation for the date. > > > > Bob > > > > _____ > > From: sundial [mailto:sundial-boun...@uni-koeln.de] On Behalf Of Ian > Maddocks > Sent: Wednesday, October 5, 2016 12:29 PM > To: Sundial list > Subject: Longcase Clock with Equation of TIme > > > > hi folks > > > > I was just blundering around the internet when I came across the following > that may be of interest.. > > > > A long case clock from 1730 London that has an annual dial for displaying > the date and the equation of time > > http://www.raffetyclocks.com/antique-clocks/d/antique-month-equation-and-yea > r-calendar-longcase-clock-by-john-topping-london/170271 > > It's a premade disk with EoT table that rotates in a year, not a P&G type > kidney cam, but was new clock complication to me > > > > greetings from > > > > Ian Maddocks > Chester, UK > 53°11'50"N 2°52'41"W > frog.happy.froze > > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------- > https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial >
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