On 27/10/98 Anthony Cordasco wrote:
>Forgive me if I am repeating something which was already posted. I am new
>to this list and would like to know if anyone has any information on
>something I have called a "SCIATHACTOR". It has printed on the page 'the
>author's dialling square based on the Middleton scales'. It is a triangle
>with latitude markings on two sides and hours on the third.
Dear Anthony,
It seems very likely that you have a copy of a page from Frank W.
Cousins _Sundials: A Simplified Approach by Means of the Equatorial Dial_
(London: John Baker, 1969). The Sciathactor is a 'dialling scale' which is
used to create horizonal and vertical dials without mathematical or
geometrical computation or construction. Cousins explains (pp. 204 ff) the
origins of the Middleton scales and his reconstruction of how they are to
be used. In essence (I hope I'm getting this right) for a horizontal dial,
one begins by selecting a suitable rectangle for one's dial. On the x-axis
one measures out from the ordinate the length on the scale corresponding to
one's lattitude. One then places the 12/6 o'clock point of the hour scale
on that point and the 6/12 hour point on the y-axis. One then marks the
points for the remaining hours and extends lines from the ordinate through
those points to the far side of the dial. That's about it! Cousins gives
instructions for using the scale to create vertical and declining dials as
well.
Trust this helps,
Peter Mayer
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter Mayer | [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Politics Department | 'phone:+61.8 8303 5606/5610
University of Adelaide | FAX: (+61.8) 8303 3446
Adelaide, SA 5005 | Time Zone: GMT +9.5 hrs (April-October)
AUSTRALIA | GMT +10.5 hrs(November-March)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
