Monte Castello monument
Ciao everyone! I have been contacted by a brazilian architect who is in charge of building up a monument in the Italian Apennino between Florence and Bologna to commemorate the battle of Monte Castello (44°12'12''N 10°57'18''E) during WorldWarII fought, with heavy losses, by the Força Expedicionària Brasileira. I have been asked to put down a shadow reference to the day of the victory. I am particularly interested in giving my help because at the time of the Monte Castello battle I was a young man and lived not too far, in the Bologna plain waiting for the liberation from the German troops. If someone is interested in details of that war event and in the image of the scale model of the monument (no more than 20Kb in all), please let me know. Ciao Angelo --- 44 32' 10''N11 32' 15''E ---
Re: Sundial by Sir Christopher Wren
Hello Mac, together with Charles K Aked and Nicola Severino and my 2000 articles we created in 1997 the International Bibliography of Gnomonica with 12000 titles concerning books printed from 1500 to 1997 and articles from international magazines. So, if you have a question to authors, years, titles etc. you can get an answer. With sunny greetings The German Sundial Society Klaus Eichholz Zum Ruhrblick 5 D-44797 Bochum [EMAIL PROTECTED] Von: Mac Oglesby [EMAIL PROTECTED] An: Sundial mailing list sundial@rrz.uni-koeln.de Gesendet: Samstag, 29. April 2000 17:09 Betreff: Sundial by Sir Christopher Wren Hello Sundial List, I've been trying to locate detailed information on the design and construction of Sir Christopher Wren's large vertical sundial installed at All Souls College at Oxford in 1658. I'm familiar with Margaret Stanier's booklet, and I have a copy of a pamphlet published very recently by Dr John Simmons (of All Souls), but neither comes even close to providing the details I seek. My efforts to find information on any subject using the internet have generally been exercises in frustration. I am constantly amazed by what some of you are able to find and would greatly appreciate any hints about how to conduct a successful search. It doesn't seem possible that in the more than 3 centuries since the sundial was first installed no one has written extensively on its design and construction. But how to find those papers? Thanks for any help. Mac Oglesby Putney, Vermont USA
Ceiling Dials
Greetings from Devon, England. Anyone made a ceiling dial--a mirror by a window projecting the sun's image onto the ceiling marked with hour lines? I have been considering making one for years and am hoping to find information on the net, but so far without success. Do you know of any ceiling dial articles on the net? Issues that have come to my mind include: 1. Mirror mounting/size/shape. 2. Whether to raise or tilt the mirror in order to to reflect the sun onto the ceiling on more days of the year or at more convinient times of the day. 3. Perhaps include an analemma (or two) with dates marked. I have found the reference to an article in the March 1996 issue of the NASS Journal entitled A Kitchen Ceiling Analemma by Woody Sullivan. Also, in the April 2000 issue of Sky Telescope in the 25 Years Ago section, the April 1975 front cover is reproduced sporting a tantalising photograph of analemmas painted on a ceiling. Gordon Watson Lat. 50:30 N, Long. 3:45 W
marketing your sundials
Hello dial makers: Since the List has been almost silent these past few days (probably because everyone is playing around with their new DeltaCad programs!), I thought I'd bring up a topic of great interest to sundial makers: sundial marketing. I'm often asked how I'm able to sell my sundials with no paid advertising. The secret was to get newspapers, magazines, TV and radio to talk about my sundials as news rather than advertising. In 1995 when I first started making sundials for sale, I contacted local garden centers, art galleries, astronomy supply stores, and clock shops and sold my sundials on consignment. Alhtough this helped to publicize my dials and they sold very well, unfortunately I often had to give the store a customary 50% cut of the sales price. Almost any store will sell your sundials on consignment because they have nothing to lose. Who lost was me! Then a friend recomended that I donate one of my best sundials to a public place with high visibility. Who can turn down a donation? Although my family thought I was crazy to donate a 5000 dollar sundial, in 1997, I contacted a popular local park and they eagerly accepted my offer. I worked closely with them on the design and they footed the bill for a beautiful custom-made pedestal. Their public relations department arranged to have our local television stations and newspapers present for an inaugaration ceremony. The following day my phone started ringing off the hook! Everyone wanted a sundial. Everything snowballed after that. Other reporters for other publications and TV stations read about the Tohono Chul Park sundial and contacted me wanting do more stories on me and my dials. They sent reporters and phtographers to my studio. There's nothing better than getting free publicity, especially when it is treated as a news item rather than a paid ad. From then on, I discontinued all consignment sales and now sell directly to my customers, avoiding the middleman. Local media coveraged resulted in local sales which was great for me because I already had designs worked out for Tucson's latitude and longitude. Selling sundials locally also greatly facilitated packing, shipping and delivery. Also, I got to meet all of my customers and see where my sundials were going. In Febuary I got international exposure for the first time with the publication of an article in Arizona Highways which forced me to rethink my sales and delivery policies. Thanks to Zonwvlak and DeltaCad I can now easily calculate and draw sundials for new locations. I charge a little more for non local sundials and the customer pays for packing and shipping. This marketing technique worked well for me and might work for you other dial makers too. Happy dialing! John Carmichael Tucson Arizona http://www.azstarnet.com/~pappas
Re: Ceiling Dials
There is a well-known ceiling dial at the Horniman Museum. It was designed by BSS-member John Moir (amongst others). I'm sure he would be please to discuss details with you. John Dr J R Davis Flowton, UK 52.08N, 1.043E email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Original Message - From: Gordon Watson [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: sundial@rrz.uni-koeln.de Sent: 02 May 2000 17:10 Subject: Ceiling Dials Greetings from Devon, England. Anyone made a ceiling dial--a mirror by a window projecting the sun's image onto the ceiling marked with hour lines? I have been considering making one for years and am hoping to find information on the net, but so far without success. Do you know of any ceiling dial articles on the net? Issues that have come to my mind include: 1. Mirror mounting/size/shape. 2. Whether to raise or tilt the mirror in order to to reflect the sun onto the ceiling on more days of the year or at more convinient times of the day. 3. Perhaps include an analemma (or two) with dates marked. I have found the reference to an article in the March 1996 issue of the NASS Journal entitled A Kitchen Ceiling Analemma by Woody Sullivan. Also, in the April 2000 issue of Sky Telescope in the 25 Years Ago section, the April 1975 front cover is reproduced sporting a tantalising photograph of analemmas painted on a ceiling. Gordon Watson Lat. 50:30 N, Long. 3:45 W
