BSS Sundial Glossary - 2nd Edition
I'm pleased to announce that the Second Edition of the British Sundial Society Dialling Glossary is now available. Now subtitled "A sourcebook of dialling data" to reflect its expanded scope, it is about twice the size of the original with 84 pages, far more illustrations, a section on biographies and 29 Appendices of data invaluable to all diallists. The printed version is available from BSS Sales (Margery Lovatt on [EMAIL PROTECTED]). The price, including post and packing is 15 UKP (UK): 17 UKP (Europe): and 19 UKP (Rest of World). The BSS can now accept payment by credit card and by dollar cheques (from a US bank). Contact me for details. There are no immediate plans to produce an electronic version (either online or on CD) of the Second Edition. The BSS may eventually do this, but it won't happen for a while. My thanks go to all the diallists who contributed to the Glossary. I hope everyone is mentioned in the Acknowledgements but my sincere apologies if I have missed anyone. I am still collecting useful dialling information, and corrections to existing definitions, so please contact me if you have any ideas for a Third Edition - though it could be many years before it gets published. Regards, John - Dr J R DavisFlowton DialsN52d 08m: E1d 05m
Re: Sundial Glossary - out now
Thanks for publishing and posting the Sundial Glossary. I am pleased to see the section on equations. I do not know of any other source for all of these equations. It is good to see them listed in a self consistent manner even if the particular form is unfamiliar. It is a good piece of work, very useful to this world wide community of interest. Roger Bailey Walking Shadow Designs N 51 W 115 At 09:44 AM 7/4/00 +0100, John Davis wrote: Hi Dialling Colleagues, I'm pleased to announce that the first edition of e BSS Sundial Glsary is now available. Printed versions can be obtained from: Ms Margery Lovatt, BSS Sales Studio 5, Parndon Mill Harlow Essex CM20 2HP UK Thanks to some tremendous work by Bob Terwilliger on the look-and-feel, and Ian Wootton's good offices, the Glossary is also viewable on-line (free!) with a link direct from the BSS front page at: www.sundialsoc.org.uk I can't mention everyone by name, but it was Margaret Stanier who got it through the publishers. The second edition is now underway, so if you have any comments or suggestions for additions or corrections, please contact me. Have fun, John --- --- Dr J R Davis Flowton, UK 52.08N, 1.043E email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Sundial Glossary - out now
To Anyone attending the NASS meeting in San Francisco, If you would like a printed copy of The John Davis Sundial Glossary, I will work with John to provide a copy for about $10 to anyone that can let me know before noon Thursday (July 6). I will personally carry them back from Britain. Warren Thom
Printing the BSS Sundial Glossary
I successfully printed the Sundial Glossary from the BSS website using Netscape 4.73 and a laser printer; the total was 44 pages. I have DSL and the download was quick. This printed copy, of course, is not bound and cannot access the many handy links embedded in the web version of the Glossary. However, this process did solve my personal difficulty of paying in UK Pounds. I, for one, would be pleased to purchase a bound copy at the NASS meeting in San Francisco if I could pay in US Dollars. John's suggestion is an excellent one. I am hopeful that PayPal (http://www.paypal.com), the popular US Internet credit transfer facility, will soon offer, as promised, international credit card funds transfer between individuals as they currently provide in the US. This will certainly alleviate the international small-funds transfer costs under which we currently suffer. The PayPal service is currently free to both parties; even a modest fee for international transfers would be welcome. -- Best wishes, Larry McDavid W6FUB Anaheim, CA (20 miles southeast of Los Angeles, near Disneyland)
Re: Sundial Glossary - out now
John, the Glossary is beautiful! And kudos to Bob Terwilliger, for a fine job implementing it as a set of Web pages. I agree, having copies available through NASS would be a good idea, and should serve to expand the BSS's sales, through distribution. How do you feel about making the Web page set available for local installation on members' PCs? It's quite modest in size, for any recent application, and would be directly accessible to any browser, without going on line... Dave Bell
Re: Sundial Glossary
Chris Lusby Taylor said in his comments about the Glossary: Dial types/equatorial: Why do you say this is a misnomer? I think it is a perfectly acceptable alternative term, indeed I prefer it to equinoctial. Cousins uses it. I very much agree with Chris, not only does Cousins use Equatorial but so does Mrs Gatty, Alice Morse Earl, A P Herbert, Mayall Mayall, Winthrop Dolan, Albert Waugh, Roy Marshall, H Robert Mills and Rene R J Rohr in the translation of Sundials , History Theory and Practice. In his Shire book of Sundials my colleague and friend, the BSS Chairman, describes why he thinks that the correct term is Equinoctial (because it is in the Equinoctial plane) but he also admits that the term Equatorial has come to be accepted by current usage. Surely it is current usage that has determined what the English Language is today? We call a dial in the vertical plain a Vertical dial, a dial in the horizontal plane a Horizontal dial, what is wrong with calling a dial in the equatorial plane an Equatorial dial as it has for at least the whole of this century. No doubt others will have different opinions but at the very least the subject should be aired. Christmas Greetings to All David Young 51.38N 0.01 E
Re: A Sundial Glossary
Dear John. I just had some time to read your glossary of sundial terms and I wrote down some remarks as you asked for. When I finished my job I saw an update on the sundial list so it is possible that my remarks are no longer of use to you, but I still will send them as an attached file comment.zip I didn't compare my short notes with this new version. I congratulate you with this document. It is worth for all diallist in the world who speak and read ( less or more ) English. Best wishes, Fer. Fer J. de Vries [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.iae.nl/users/ferdv/ Eindhoven, Netherlands lat. 51:30 N long. 5:30 E - Original Message - From: John Davis [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: sundial@rrz.uni-koeln.de Sent: Thursday, December 09, 1999 8:27 PM Subject: A Sundial Glossary Dear Dialling Colleagues, The British Sundial Society (BSS) has decided that a Glossary of dialling terms would be a good idea. It would have two main purposes: - to provide a refererence source for newcomers to dialling, and - to try to set preferred definitions of the terms, symbols and descriptions which we all tend to use rather loosely. I volunteered to edit such a document, and have now produced a version which is ready for review. Although the document is aimed mainly at BSS members (who live world-wide, of course) and thus concentrates on British oriented aspects, it is hoped that it will be of use wherever diallists use the English language. It is also expected that the Glossary will be useful alongside the NASS FAQ project, when that is ready. As well as a dictionary section, the document contains a preferred set of mathematical symbols, some contentious sign conventions, and a brief chronology of dialling. The Glossary has been written in a form which will be printed for BSS members. It is also hoped that it will be put on the BSS web pages in the future, after BSS members have debated its contents and agreed on correct definitions. In the meantime, it can be viewed on my rudimentary web site at: www.btinternet.com/~john.davis I'd welcome any feedback, and am quite willing to be over-ruled on choices of symbols etc, if there is a general consensus. PS - Netscape users will see some odd formatting - blame Bill Gates, because it was converted from Word97 and is fine in MS Explorer! Over to you! John -- -- -- Dr J R Davis Flowton, UK 52.08N, 1.043E email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Attachment converted: Macintosh HD:Comment.zip (pZIP/pZIP) (9FE8)
A Sundial Glossary
Dear Dialling Colleagues, The British Sundial Society (BSS) has decided that a Glossary of dialling terms would be a good idea. It would have two main purposes: - to provide a refererence source for newcomers to dialling, and - to try to set preferred definitions of the terms, symbols and descriptions which we all tend to use rather loosely. I volunteered to edit such a document, and have now produced a version which is ready for review. Although the document is aimed mainly at BSS members (who live world-wide, of course) and thus concentrates on British oriented aspects, it is hoped that it will be of use wherever diallists use the English language. It is also expected that the Glossary will be useful alongside the NASS FAQ project, when that is ready. As well as a dictionary section, the document contains a preferred set of mathematical symbols, some contentious sign conventions, and a brief chronology of dialling. The Glossary has been written in a form which will be printed for BSS members. It is also hoped that it will be put on the BSS web pages in the future, after BSS members have debated its contents and agreed on correct definitions. In the meantime, it can be viewed on my rudimentary web site at: www.btinternet.com/~john.davis I'd welcome any feedback, and am quite willing to be over-ruled on choices of symbols etc, if there is a general consensus. PS - Netscape users will see some odd formatting - blame Bill Gates, because it was converted from Word97 and is fine in MS Explorer! Over to you! John -- Dr J R Davis Flowton, UK 52.08N, 1.043E email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Sundial Glossary
Dear John D. A published glossary of sundial terms is indeed a worthwhile project for both organizations. Since you asked, I do have an idea which I'd like to run by you. I noticed that BSS has a link on its website to a FAQ section. Since any FAQ project could turn out to be quite a bit of work, I thought to myself that it is too bad that BSS and NASS are duplicating their efforts doing the same thing. Wouldn't it be easier if we worked together on our FAQ projects? Since the definition of sundial terms are often FAQs, couldn't the glossery idea be part of the FAQ project? What do you think? John Carmichael Tucson Arizona Dear NASS Officials (Claude, Fred) and John, At its recent Council Meeting, the BSS decided that it would like to produce a Sundial Glossary of all the standard terms used in dialing. This will be aimed at educating newcomers to dialing and, hopefully, standardising on the definitions of some of the terms and symbols we use. In the first instance, the glossary will be published as a standard BSS booklet, and it will then be placed on the BSS web pages. I have volunteered to be the editor of this undertaking, and have made a start at gathering together the most obvious of the terms that will need including (183 items at the latest count). Once I have produced a draft, I will submit it to the BSS for review before publication. The purpose of this email is to invite you to provide a NASS collaborator to contribute to the review process. Since we share (almost!) the same language, and we would like the glossary (which will be a living document) to be the definitive source of definitions for English-speaking dialists, I would very much like to have your help. At the very least, should common UK/American definitions not be possible, we will need to make readers aware of the differences. I am aware that there may be some overlap between this project and NASS's excellent FAQ one. My hope is that between them, we should be able to provide all the help that dialists require. There should also be some cross-fertilisation of ideas. I'd be very grateful for your comments on this idea, and whether you would like to be involved. Best regards, John
Re: Sundial Glossary
In response to John Carmichael and John Davis, who discussed the BSS glossary project: I have been working on preparing a glossary of sundial terms, with international comparisons. This will be part of the forthcoming interpretive catalogue of 500 historical sundials that I'm writing for the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum (Chicago). Some time ago, I also agreed to allow NASS to publish a version as well for use by dialists. I think it would be wise to pool our information or prepare a jointly authored and jointly sponsored work. I would very much like to work on such a project. But I think this is a matter for the Boards of the BSS and NASS to decide. It has not yet been discussed by us. As for the glossary being part of a FAQ list, I tend to think that is not the place for it. Some basic terms should definitely be defined in the FAQ list, but most of the glossary may well be arcane to the average person. Remember that a FAQ list is meant for newcomers to a field. The simpler the FAQ list--the more rudimentary the material--the better it will serve those newcomers. This is a case where less is more. Otherwise you will scare those newcomers away. (here I'm wearing my museum curator/educator/exhibit designer hats) That is not to say that there is no place online for hefty substance and nitty gritty details. There could be a site with information of use to more advanced dialists. A full glossary could still be put online sometime if either society saw fit. Sara Schechner NASS Secretary 39N 77W --- Sara Schechner, Ph.D. Center for History of Physics American Institute of Physics 1 Physics Ellipse College Park, MD 20740 Tel: 301-209-3166 / Fax: 301-209-0841 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Gnomon Research __Curators on Call __Outreach Adventures 1142 Loxford Terrace Silver Spring, MD 20901 Tel/Fax: 301-593-2626 http://www.wam.umd.edu/~sschech [EMAIL PROTECTED]
