At 07.52 17/04/97 +0100, you wrote: >I had doubts about planetary hours >because it is easy to prove that >a shadow casted by a horizontal or vertical gnomon >do not move equally with a local hour angle, >except from the low latitudes for horizontal gnomon >or high latitudes for vertical one where the difference >is small. So when I saw, let me call them, primitive >dials it always seemed doubtful for me how they >can indicate hours which are equal in one day. > ----------------------- (Only short answers now).
That's only because modern diallists and gnomonists, approach the issue with modern mind. For a simple monk living in the 8th, 9th or 10th centuries, the problem wasn't: "What time is it now?", "Oh! it half past ten!", but "What the moment to pray the Lord?". The fathers of the monasticism in ester countries say to pray "mane et sera", as you can see there is no exact hour to do it. Probably the monks used their oun knowledge of times to do it. But again, don't confuse canonical sundial with temporary ones. Of course they are not gnomonically perfect, they probably came from old models from Egypt or middle est. --------------------- > but next question arises. >Why there are so concentrated in England >much more than in any other country. > ------------------------ That's a thing in wich I am interested to know too. But with many probabilities that's because the artistic history of one place. In Italy, for example, many many medieval churches has been changed in their schape and structure. Many has been rebuilded, and many others covered with mortar. Many romanic churches has been transformed with the barocco style. And more we have to say that British Isles have very much people that love that kind of sundials, and study them. Actually the most great number of publications come from there. Many regards Mario Arnaldi ============================ MARIO ARNALDI Viale Leonardo, 82 48020 Lido Adriano RAVENNA ITALY E-Mail - [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------
