Hello fellow sundial enthusiasts, A friend in California who knows how much I like sundials forwarded this article from his local newspaper. Following the directions in the article, I made a model dial and can personally testify that it works as claimed, at least here in Vermont.
Enjoy, Mac Oglesby * * * * * * * * * SUNSHINE BEACH - Dr. April Furst, college professor and noted amateur sundial designer, spoke to your reporter in a recent interview and described her new sundial. "It's very easy to make," the professor stated. "Simply draw a dial plate for a normal horizontal sundial for your latitude and attach a cord at the dial's center, which is the point toward which the hour lines converge. The sundial is installed in a sunlit location with its noon line in the plane of the local meridian, and with the dial plate level. Of course, before you can read accurate time, this sundial must first be set. To set the dial, hold the taut cord high or low above the dial plate and move the cord until its shadow is aligned with that hour line, or that fractional hour line, which agrees with your accurate watch. Hold the cord steady and read the sundial time promptly after setting." When this reporter suggested that it might be considered a nuisance if a sundial were to need setting each time before it is read, the professor became visibly irritated. "Well, that might be considered a problem by some," she protested, "but this marvelous sundial has many, many unusual features. Listen - the hour lines really don't need to follow the layout normally seen on a horizontal sundial, but may be equiangular, or may even be drawn at whatever angles you wish, as long as the dial plate is flat and the hour lines are straight and converge toward the point where the cord is attached. The hour lines may be numbered in clockwise or counterclockwise order, or even in random fashion. The sundial doesn't need to be horizontal, but may have any inclination or declination - as long as it is illuminated by the sun - and may be used at any latitude or longitude. Finally, this sundial gives clock time, not that mostly useless local solar time shown on most sundials. Certainly, all this incredible versatility outweighs the little drawback you chose to focus on. And just you remember, young man, that no sundial is perfect!" At this point your scribe smiled weakly, acknowledged the novel sundial's virtues, and inquired if the professor might be working on any other new dials. "Well, yes, I've been designing a refrigerator sundial. No, not a magnet to hold notes to the 'fridge door, but a sundial for the inside, to be illuminated by the light which comes on whenever the door opens. Of course, it will also need to be set before reading." * * * * * * * * * A final thought - although Prof. Furst says her marvelous sundial will work satisfactorily with the hour lines numbered at random, IMHO that labeling scheme makes the time between exact hours difficult to determine unambiguously. Mac ;-) P.S. Alas, the article gives little information on Prof. Furst's refrigerator "sundial," but I'm sure it's a cool design. Perhaps some members of the Sundial List have suggestions for a clever 'fridge dial?
