At a time when all watches were mechanical, and a reliable watch wasn't affordable to all, I sometimes used a portable sundial, a compass-oriented tablet-dial made from corrugated cardboard and typewriter-paper, with sewing-thread as the gnomon.
No doubt the more easily built Regiomontanus dial would have been useful too (except near noon). Also, the Analemmatic Dial, especially the universal one, makes a good sun-compass. It's a lot easier to carry a piece of paper or cardboard than a compass, and a sun-compass is just as usable in a steel car, bus, train, etc., where a compass would lose accuracy. But of course nowadays a sundial's main value is aesthetic, and that's the the reason for the recent resurgence in the popularity of sundials. Why shouldn't every windowsill have a sundial? Sundials are interesting and pleasant to have around, or run across somewhere, regardless of whether there's practical need. Michael Ossipoff On Sun, Jan 14, 2018 at 2:26 PM, Willy Leenders <willy.leend...@telenet.be> wrote: > > When I talk about sundials, I get the question: "What utility can sundials > have today?" > In order to be able to give an answer as diverse as possible, I would > like to receive your answer to this question > > > Willy Leenders > Hasselt in Flanders (Belgium) > > Visit my website about the sundials in the province of Limburg (Flanders) > with a section 'worth knowing about sundials' (mostly in Dutch): > http://www.wijzerweb.be > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------- > https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial > > >
--------------------------------------------------- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
