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
6-27-96
In answer to Ron Doerfler's interest in sources of information on the Wheatstone
Dial, I offer the following:
Polarization of Light from the Sky and its Application to Timetelling and
Navigation, Allan A. Mills, pages 8-14 of the Bulletin of the Scientific
Instrument Society, No. 33,
6-27-96
Referring to Thibaud Taudin Chabot's request for information on Richard L.
Schmoyer's dial, I purchased one of his kits for this dial in the late 1980's.
At that time he had ceased production and there were no finished dials in his
inventory and very few kits. The kit cost was somewhat
Ralph Dieter FEDRA wrote:
I want to build ring dials (pokes) and I want to understand, why it is
impossible to construct an accurate dial based on this idea. So my
question:
Does anybody knows, how to construct a ring dial if you know the
equation for the heigh of the sun?
Or does
Prof. Sullivan
I read with great interest your ring dial account posted to the
sundial news group. I would like very much to attempt to duplicate
a simular dial as the 18th C. dial you described. I'm wondering
if you would consider taking a rubbing of your dial and making it
In Mrs. Alfred Gatty's _The Book of Sundials_, the town of Settle
in Yorkshire, UK was said to possess the following landmark back
in the eighteenth century:
A hill called Castleberg, which rises at the back of town,
was crowned by a pile of rock which cast a shadow upon
large slabs of
