Hi Darek, I believe that the sundial design in Kircher—like nearly all images on elaborate frontispieces of scientific books of the 16th and 17th centuries—was not an actual scene or event but a “concept piece.” It was designed to show all the possibilities of an instrument’s use or be symbolic of the book’s contents or an institution’s goals.
That said in a general way, let me also say in particular that many devices illustrated in Kircher are completely fanciful and never existed. There is a science fiction aspect, such as showing a big rooftop mirror reflecting sunlight in order to burn ships in a harbor. Happy dialing! Sara J. Schechner Altazimuth Arts 42°36'N 71° 22'W West Newton, MA 02465 http://www.altazimutharts.com/<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=http://www.altazimutharts.com/&k=AjZjj3dyY74kKL92lieHqQ%3D%3D%0A&r=Y3uaNkd%2BN%2BBEMo7BAxbEQqOqpMk6uxYnCJsB4uxugzo%3D%0A&m=Ti1oQOLKwbdeBp0MOcYibsxY4Lg058dCGKYBaRLSNUY%3D%0A&s=2f04b2f3647abf5da1ada6decaf1b455ea2d0ead01efe881489e14a7d1adb139> Sara J. Schechner, Ph.D. David P. Wheatland Curator of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Lecturer on the History of Science Department of the History of Science, Harvard University Science Center 251c, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: 617-496-9542 | Fax: 617-496-5932 [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> |@SaraSchechner http://scholar.harvard.edu/saraschechner http://chsi.harvard.edu/ From: sundial [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Darek Oczki Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2016 6:24 AM To: [email protected] Subject: A drawing by Hevelius Hello everyone I am sure most of you on this list are familiar with the work Primitiae gnomonicae catoptricae by Athanasius Kircher. Its frontispiece depicts a reflective sundial drawn (designed) by Johannes Hevelius. If you havent seen it here you can view it: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Primitiae_gnomonicae_catoptricae,_by_Kitcher._Wellcome_L0006089.jpg<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__commons.wikimedia.org_wiki_File-3APrimitiae-5Fgnomonicae-5Fcatoptricae-2C-5Fby-5FKitcher.-5FWellcome-5FL0006089.jpg&d=CwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=7ZsgDX5inZSMERqhZEQacOtdADP0iy6-YB7dx6Z_mVo&m=2WmgRQrKPBEIyaG9wbEqo9MzoJwc0c41yi8RB-vQnMQ&s=WuoFYp9Ccws1Z7QdVlxCfojh_rpgEdKujJVkHnnuoV4&e=> I was wondering whether this drawing was just an exercise (book illustration) or parhaps an actual dial was created based on the disign. Does anyone know? I would appreciate any info on this. -- Best regards Darek Oczki 52N 21E Warsaw, Poland GNOMONIKA.pl Sundials in Poland http://gnomonika.pl<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__gnomonika.pl&d=CwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=7ZsgDX5inZSMERqhZEQacOtdADP0iy6-YB7dx6Z_mVo&m=2WmgRQrKPBEIyaG9wbEqo9MzoJwc0c41yi8RB-vQnMQ&s=YXOrWG1a42rjPSbDmo6R2OC_JXRPPCiuBK4xF4uQOKg&e=>
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