giovanni bellina wrote: > Today I have bought July 99 issue of Sky & Telescope. On page 87 there > is a photo of sundial made by italian inventor A. > Molteni in 1865. > I am italian and gnomonist but I dont know A. Molteni 1865. > There is anibody that know it and can tell me his story?
On the photograph of the Molteni sundial in the Museo Cientifico Solar near Quito (Ecuador) in the July issue of Sky & Telescope one can easily make out the French text "CHRONOMETRE SOLAIRE" above Molteni's name. Below the name is also a cursive writing which I cannot decipher. Although his name suggests an Italian descent, it seems likely that this sundial was made by the Parisian telescope maker Molteni. The earliest editions of Camille Flammarion's "Les Étoiles et les Curiosités du Ciel" give descriptions of simple brass telescopes by Molteni with apertures of 61 & 95 millimetres and focal lengths of 90 & 130 centimetres. I remember having read somewhere that Molteni died around 1870, but I would have to look that up. I hope that this helps, ================================================================ * Robert H. van Gent * Tel/Fax: 00-31-30-2720269 * * Zaagmolenkade 50 * E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * * 3515 AE Utrecht * Home page (under construction): * * The Netherlands * http://www.fys.ruu.nl/~vgent/ * ================================================================
