Dear NASS Members:I returned home after Christmas to find 52 e-mails most of which were responses to my inquiry about Daylight Saving Time. Thank you all for writing such insightful answers, including you, Fernando. I was astounded by the variety of opinions out there and the depth of the responses. Seems that this subject is a hot topic! Everybody has a different opinion as to why we have it and how it affects their lives for better or worse. There was no consensus among dialists as to whether we should keep it, expand it or scrap it. (Arthur C Clarke thinks that the whole world will eventually be forced into using Universal Time. That will certainly affect sundial faces!) Several members offered practical suggestions regarding double time scales and design modifications. (polar and flat equatorials can have both scales). Loved the barbeque lobbyist theory and the suggestion that we leave time alone and change our work schedules instead. (The nine to five workday becomes ten to six during D.S.T.). Most of the professional dialists and their customers seem to prefer their to have D.S.T. scales for use during the summer. So be it. Being new to the internet, I was shocked and amazed by the whole "Fernando Debate", its progression and outcome. Who would have thought that my simple question about Daylight Saving Time would result in such a mess. Unbelieveable! Didn'y mean to stir up such a hornets nest. Anyway, thanks againfor all your comments. Happy New Year John Carmichael P.S. While landing in Dallas, I saw a huge horizontal sundial with a bright red gnomon right near the south end of the center runway. Has anybody else seen this out of their window? It was in the middle of a field and obviously was intended to be seen by airplane passengers. Cool idea.
