Dear friends, a new issue of the Italian magazine Orologi Solari is available for download from the usual site http://www.orologisolari.eu/.
Here is the list of articles together with a short abstract: 1. - "Gnomonics and Artificial Intelligence (ChatGPT)" by Gian Casalegno How much does Artificial Intelligence know about gnomonics? Can it teach us anything? Can it help us or even replace us in a gnomonic project? Here is the dialogue on the topic exchanged with ChatGPT. The gnomonic knowledge demonstrated is certainly superior to that of an ordinary person but the conclusion we can draw from it is: don't worry, for now Artificial Intelligence still cannot replace us! 2. - "Is the bifilar sundials time arrived?" by Gian Casalegno Years after the presentation at the Valdobbiadene seminar of the project of bifilar sundials with arbitrary styles, the first creations can finally be seen, also the result of a fruitful collaboration between gnomonists. Two works recently created in Aiello del Friuli and Castellamonte are here described. 3. - "A monumental dial using shadow terminator" by Gian Casalegno, Giuseppe De Donà, Aurelio Pantanali The decoration of a water tower in the municipality of Mira was the opportunity to create an unusual sundial using the shadow terminator, visible from much of the city, the largest built in the world to date. 4. - "Virtual reconstruction of a nineteenth-century sundial" by Francesco Caviglia Starting from the faint trace of a nineteenth-century sundial in Piemonte, the author tries to reconstruct its original appearance. This not for starting a restoration, but to document and keep track of what time is inevitably erasing. 5. - "Fra Felice da Valdobbiadene an 18th century “gnomonist” Capuchin friar" by Giuseppe Flora The presence in Friuli of a sundial signed Fra Felice da Valdobbiadene, from 1750, with Italian hours, leads the author and his collaborators to discover this unknown "gnomonist" Capuchin friar, recognizing his presence in other works attributable to the same period and to same author, in particular on the basis of the characteristic graphic feature. 6. - "An interactive hat sundial" by Luigi Massimo Ghia A model of hat sundial is described: the interactive system, designed for reading the time, allows for better readability and precision. 7. - "Revisiting ring sundial" by Alessandro Gunella The author retraces the theory and use of the solar ring through the proposals of illustrious gnomonists such as Schoener and Oddi. There are as usual the author's graphic reconstructions. 8. - "Considerations about a sundial with Italian hours on the sphere" by Alessandro Gunella The author proposes new considerations on Italian hour sundials, made on a sphere. Starting from the points of common hours along the equator, he traces the Italian time lines, to be read with the use of the 'terminator' on the circles of declination corresponding to the entry of the Sun into the Zodiac Signs. 9. - "A sundial on a polar cylinder with Italian hours" by Elsa Stocco The study of a singular equatorial sundial, with Italian hours, made on a stone semi-cylinder, is proposed. Its origin is unknown. A description of it is made, determining the project latitude and putting forward hypotheses on its dating and about area of its provenance. 10. - "Good news from Filia Bric!" (Short contribution) by Gian Casalegno In issue 26 of Orologi Solari the author described the problems encountered in painting a sundial he made, and the measures adopted to overcome them. Now, after two years, the author announces that the duration of the work carried out at the time appears satisfactory. 11. - "Essential pages from the ASTROLABIUM by Christopher Clavius - 1594 Edition" (Short contribution) by Alessandro Gunella The author presents a commented extract from the most important pages of Clavius' work on the Astrolabe: it is approximately 200 pages which he offers as a Bonus to the readers of this issue of Orologi Solari. As a Bonus to the next issues, he will offer the full translation of the work. Hope you will enjoy the reading, although in Italian only. Regards. Gian
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