R. Carlson You might want to read through the following articles which have appeared in The Compendium, the quarterly published by the North American Sundial Society:
"A Vertical Decliner By Dialing Scales And Schema" by Fred Sawyer 5(1), March 1998 "Towards A General Theory Of Dialing Scales" by Fred Sawyer 4(4), December 1997 "Serle's Dialing Scales" by Fred Sawyer 2(2), June 1995 "What Latitude Was It Designed For?" by Steven Woodbury 2(2), June 1995 Please also note that NASS has published an annotated new edition of George Serle's 1657 book "Dialling Universal" - the first to introduce a comprehensive set of dialing scales on a ruler. The 27 page book, edited and annotated by Fred Sawyer, is accompanied by a 6 inch metal ruler by Ron Anthony; the ruler contains scales to lay out the hour lines "on all sorts of Planes whatsoever, and in any Latitude." As James Ferguson noted: "This is the easiest of all mechanical methods, and by much the best." The book itself serves both as an instruction manual and as a discussion on the theory of dialing scales. Finally, there is a brief discussion of dialing scales in my article on Samuel Foster, whom I believe to be the inventor of the method (and the person that George Serle also credits with the invention): "Samuel Foster of Gresham College" in Sciatheric Notes - I by Fred Sawyer (a 116 page collection consists of ten articles that appeared in the Bulletin of The British Sundial Society in the years 1991 to 1997). All of these items are available through the North American Sundial Society. All are invited to join us or request more details on membership or on these specific items. Best Wishes, Fred Sawyer, Editor and President of NASS Glastonbury CT 4/24/98 5:22:05 PM EDT _________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
