Does your watch do the same?

[Anselmo P�rez Serrada]

Hi everyone!   Last Christmas a mate of mine told me this conversation he had with somobody:      --- And what's your hobby?    --- In my spare time I make sundials.    --- Huh, sundials ?! My watch tells the time more accurately and it's much cheaper. What a waste of time and effort!    --- But, tell me, does your watch tell you how much time is left for the sunset?    --- Well, no, what should I need know it for?    --- Maybe you're travelling by car or on a trip through the forest and want to know how much time of light you've left, maybe you like fishing or birdwatching and want to know when the animals leave,... (and so on). And my dial does it in very a simple and elegant way: it can be just a cone lying on the ground with its axis pointing towards the North Star. So it is not so much useless as you thought!   Ah, the old italic hours and the splendid conical-gnomon dial coming to our help!   Does anybody know more about other kinds of italic hour dials (apart from the flat ones, of course)?   Anselmo Perez Serrada   [ 41.63 N   4.73 W]