New Member As a new member of the Sundial list and of NASS, let me introduce myself. I'm a 67 year old retired microwave component/subsystem design/management engineer currently living in a rural area near Roseburg, Oregon. Lat. 43.126N, Long. 123.357W.
I've been interested in gnomonics since childhood and scouting. I've read a few books on the subject, and now many of the fine articles in the NASS repository CD. ( Much recommended ) In a few places it is mentioned that the science of gnomonics is no longer a high priority. This could be wrong. As one train of conjecture: There are a number of naturally occurring recording sundial phenomenae. There are rocks that darken according to total light exposure and the darkening is deeper into the stone depending on the period of time exposed. Moss or algae on trees, the drying of mud, any number of things including the growth patterns of microbes. Since there is now a science of microbiopaleontology, there may be, buried in the rocks, long term records of light exposure. Multiple time series analysis of the moving vector field of exposure records might yield gnomonic data that could tell us many things like: The pattern of growth of large plants now extinct, the time periods of volcanic eruption, perhaps even a record of how long pyramids took to build, or the path the large stones took in the building of them. One would hope that the sensitivity and time scale of this developing science of microbiopaleognomonics would improve until we could track wooly mammoths by their ancient shadows across prairies. Long term movements of the earth's axis and orbit figures might become better known. Well, that is just one area of gnomonic conjecture. There are a huge number of other developing sciences that gnomonics should be integrated into. Perhaps the science of gnomonics is still in it's infancy. We should, perhaps, get busy. Enjoy the light! Edley McKnight
