>>>>What a great idea! I wonder why nobody has mention this novel interactive horizontal dial before. .... My client wants to donate a sundial to the university, but since it is in a very public place we wanted a design as vandal-proof as possible.<<<<
Analemmatic sundials are a genre of interactive sundials well known to many dialists, if not to the general public. Even so, in recent years I have had specific requests to paint them on school blacktops and design them for outdoor learning centers. They are always a big hit with kids and grownups alike. Hal Brandmaier and I created two for the Smithsonian. One was at the National Design Museum in NYC across from Central Park, and another was on the National Mall in Washington, DC. I would not say that they are absolutely vandal-proof. It all depends on how the hour and solar declination markers are fixed into the ground. When paving stones or flat markers are set into grass, they can be mowed over or have lawn chairs placed on top of them for outdoor concerts. (These were requirements of the Smithsonian contract, for instance.) What these dials lack (often) is a sculptural presence. They are defined by a flat environment, which while attractive and inviting up close, is typically unrecognizable or invisible from a distance. In this regard, people are not drawn up to them. They work best when the spatial environment has some vertical feature to draw the eye in. Sara --------current address--------- Dr. Sara Schechner Center for History of Physics American Institute of Physics 1 Physics Ellipse College Park, MD 20740 Tel: 301-209-3166 / Fax: 301-209-0841 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Gnomon Research 1142 Loxford Terrace Silver Spring, MD 20901 Tel/Fax: 301-593-2626 http://www.wam.umd.edu/~sschech [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------after Sept 1st-------- Dr. Sara Schechner Curator, Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments History of Science Department Harvard University Science Center 235 Cambrdige, MA 02138
