John,
Hmm, I think that I must disagree with your
suggestion that Gary Cooper timed his walk out onto the street using a noon mark
or similar solar device.
Putting aside the rather bizarre notion of US
history that is portrayed by Hollywood (or world history for that matter), I
gleaned a bit of information during a wonderful 6 month sojourn in Tucson,
Arizona about 6 years ago. My interest was in ranch fencing, and this spread
over into history of the south west of the US. Being a great fan of The Duke,
and other purveyors of mom and apple pie, I read a bit about the so-called
"gun-fighter era".
Seems that it occurred after the American Civil
War, and was essentially over by about the 1890s. This was also the time of
great expansion of both railways ( I refuse to use "railroads". After all, they
were invented by the British, so the UK term has precedence) and telegraphs.
Clocks would also have been widely available. I am pretty sure that both Gary
Cooper and Grace Kelly keep looking at either a clock or a pocket watch. In any
event, surely both the railway and the telegraph would require timepieces
other than sundials?
My final piece of evidence (tongue firmly in cheek)
is that Frankie Lane's title song from High Noon has a couple of
lines:
"look at that big hand move along / nearing high noon"
What else can you say?
How about: the six months in Tucson were wonderful,
and if I could get a job, I'd be back there tomorrow. Great landscape and
climate, friendly people, great cuisine, and only a couple of hours from Mexico.
Pity that I didn't know about the sundial list when I was in
Tucson.
Cheers, John
"Far better an approximate answer to the right question which may be
difficult to frame, than an exact answer to the wrong question which is
always easy to ask" John W Tukey, statistician
----- Original Message -----
Cc:
Sent: Saturday, August 18, 2001 5:59
AM
Subject: Re: Sundial Slang
I knew you'd write back John!
Loved your comments. "High Noon" is a very
common and still used _expression_ here in the American Southwest. (In lots
of old cowboy movies that's when they have the shootouts. They probably only
had sundial and noon marks back then). It's a favorite of mine, so
much so that I engraved my Flaundrau Planetarium heliochronometer
with a High Noon Mark. (again, more guilt feelings!) I'm sure it
indicated the time when the sun crosses the N/S meridian and is at its daily
highest point, not when it reaches zenith. And it certainly is not when a
clock says 12:00 pm. So you could use this term anywhere in earth, not just
tropic latitudes where the sun reaches zenith.
Also, I forgot to mention "Beaded Figure-eights"
(Analemmas who's dates/declinations are marked).
And by popular demand, everyone, especially Steve
Lelievre, Fred and Fer will pleased that I don't say "Singleton Dial"
anymore!
John
John L. Carmichael Jr. Sundial Sculptures 925 E. Foothills
Dr. Tucson Arizona 85718 USA
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2001 11:36
AM
Subject: Re: Sundial Slang
Hi John et al,
I couldn't let this pass without comment :-)
!!
I'm not sure that I am in any position to "approve"
the correct terms - the BSS Sundial Glossary is just a collection of the
bits of information that I've pulled together from various sources,
including much input from the participants of this list. I have no
problem with the use of slang terms, especially when they help those poor
unfortunates that aren't sundial enthusiasts know what we're talking
about. It does need care, though, not to introduce or reinforce
misapprehensions. Most of John's terms seem to avoid this, though
whether they are more easily understood than the "scientific" term is
debatable.
One term which is common and not (yet) in the Glossary
is "High noon". Is this an americanism? I have, of course, seen
my cowboy movies, but am unclear where the term originates. Is it
that, with the relatively low latitudes in the south of America, the Sun can
come close to directly overhead (altitude = 90 degrees) at noon? If
so, it reinforces the wrong view of much of the UK media that the Sun is at
the "zenith" at noon. Whilst many ordinary people think of "zenith" as
the highest point of the arc, astronomically it is defined as the point
which really is directly overhead (only expressed rather more
formally!).
Another point to watch is the
use of "due north" instead of celestial pole. If you are at northerly
latitudes, the difference between celestial and geographic north can be
significant. Why not use the Pole Star as a better everyday
approximation?
"Horizon pollution" is an
interesting term. I guess we would define this as a percentage of the
daylight period when the Sun falls on a particular site. It's
difficult to come up with a mathematical definition, as it depends on the
Sun's declination as well as the positions of any obstructions. Do we
know of any dials at locations which can show the time over the full
sunrise-sunset period thoughout the year?
Regards,
John
------------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
Sent: 17 August 2001 16:07
Subject: Sundial Slang
Hi All,
I've just finished the
7th edition of my Sundial Owner's Manual and realized that
throughout the manual I explained sundial terms using sundial slang
instead of the John Davis approved correct term. (Although at least in the
Manual I place the correct term next to it in parenthisis) I also use
sundial slang when I’m talking with others. I feel a little guilty because I’m
not using the correct terms.
But the slang serves a very useful purpose in that it is so
intuitive and self-explanatory.
(The sundial purists are going to hate me for
this!)
Anyway, here are a few of
them…
*High noon (Apparent
Noon)
Fuzz
zone (The penumbra)
Fuzz
factor (formula that determines the width of the penumbra: F=1/100) The
Correction graph (The Equation of Time)
Sun
height (solar altitude)
Sun
direction (solar azimuth)
Due
North (The Celestial Pole)
Sun
time (Apparent Time)
Watch
time (Standard Time)
Date
Ball (Spherical Nodus)
Shadow caster
(gnomon)
The
edge of the shadow caster (style)
Moontime (time shown by moon
shadows on a sundial)
Time
Zone correction (Longitudinal Shift)
Horizon pollution (the objects
around sundial that shade it from the sun. ie. trees, buildings,
mountains. No correct term
for this that I know of)
*As a sundial slang purist, I
get upset, like any good dialist would, when my favorite radio station
announces that it is High Noon (12:00 pm watch time), but because of our
Time Zone Correction, it’s really only about 11:30 am Sun time!
John
John L. Carmichael Jr. Sundial
Sculptures 925 E. Foothills Dr. Tucson Arizona
85718 USA
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