This article explores Athanasius Kircher's Sunflower Clock, a theoretical and whimsical device described in his 1641 treatise that uses a sunflower's heliotropic movement to indicate time. It discusses the technical and etymological inaccuracy of the term sunclock for sundials, explains the sunflower's mechanism (a pointer against a circular scale), and questions the practicality of such a clock given the plant's limited functional period.
Dials: Unusual