Re: Such a waste

[Chris Lusby Taylor]

Fred Sawyer wrote: Take a look at the beautiful Milwaukee Art Museum building: http://www.cgschmidt.com/photos-m.htm The architect likens it to a bird in flight.  Looks like it has all the basics for a sundial to me.  Probably too late now to paint on the hourlines.   Great idea. I toyed with similar ideas for the ill-fated Millennium Dome in London which has 12 equally spaced gnomons. Unfortunately, you can't see their shadows from inside the dome. Looking at the Milwaukee dial, it is a pity that the gnomon has another function - minor to our eyes, but important to some, no doubt - as the support for a bridge. As such, it had to be aligned with the bridge, which crosses a road at right angles. Now, the road runs north-south, so the bridge is east-west and so is the gnomon. So the best we can do, as far as I can see, is to use the tip as a nodus. As the roof is to the east of the gnomon, its use as a dial will be limited to afternoon/evening when, I would guess, most visitors will be leaving and have their backs to the dial. But it would make a great surprise if they were to turn around and realise they had been inside a sundial. Chris Lusby Taylor 51.4N, 1.3E