Dear Roger, I forgot earlier to comment on one line of yours.
> The later Braunschweig sundial, 1346 perhaps, represents a "seismic > shift" in the understanding time and the universe. The angles on this > dial are correct for a polar gnomon and would show equal time throughout > the seasons. This is a fundamental shift in how people perceived time. > This dial may be the first sundial crafted on the basis of this new > understanding. It may represent a significant step in European knowledge > of the universe. If the dial actually had a polar gnomon and the dates > based on the construction of the church are correct, this dial came > before the Ibn Al Shatir dial in Damascus dated to 1371, often noted as > the first polar, planar sundial. Is there a specific source for the last statement? The Islamic sundial of 1371 is a very sophisticated instrument. Therefore I like to think of it as a culmination of Islamic astronomical science, a product of perhaps centuries of scientific development, rather than as a novelty. Best regards, Frans Maes --------------------------------------------------- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
