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December 2008
The articles link to the specific page in a PDF optimised for speed. If you want the whole issue, you can download it here, but the files from earlier years can be quite large.
December 2008
Page 153
Page 153
The editorial introduces the issue's new, more colourful appearance due to printing technology advancements, aiming for higher quality at low cost. It also mentions a pocket-sized card with the Equation of Time included and welcomes contributions for the photographic competition.
The BSS and Members
December 2008
Page 154
Page 154
This article describes a portable universal East and West polar dial that is self-aligning and does not require a compass. It details its design, operation, and identifies limitations such as a two-hour gap around noon. It also explores improvements through hinged flaps and cylindrical designs, and relates it to other dial types like the double crescent dial.
Dials: Polar, Dials: Portable, How Sundials Work, Sundial Design & Layout
December 2008
Page 157
Page 157
A report on the BSS Newbury meeting on 27 September 2008, detailing talks on stainless steel sundials, polar dials, dynamic sundial design using calculators, and 3-D modelling for overshadowing. It also covers a survey of early horizontal dials in Flintshire, exhibits, and presentations on paper sundials and dials in Mexico and the southern hemisphere.
Dials: Horizontal, Dials: Polar, Sundial Design & Layout, The BSS and Members
December 2008
Page 159
Page 159
This piece describes a new multiple dial created by Alex Boldyrev for Shevelkovo Village. Carved from Crimean limestone, it features an equatorial dial's upper half and a south-facing scaphe dial in Greek style. It incorporates owls symbolizing Athena and a reconstructed historical mistake in its design, with gnomons made from cold-hammered copper rods.
Dials: Multi Faced, Dials: Equatorial, Sundial Design & Layout, Dials: Scaphe
December 2008
Page 160
Page 160
This article provides a summary of data and equations needed to delineate and set out analemmatic sundials. It discusses the projection of an equatorial dial onto a horizontal surface, using a vertical gnomon whose position varies with the sun's declination, and the calculation of sunrise and sunset markers using Lambert circles and Bailey Points.
Dials: Analemmatic, How Sundials Work, Mathematics of Dialling, Sundial Design & Layout
December 2008
Page 162
Page 162
This note discusses the sundial at Wimborne Minster, Dorset, based on a 1908 postcard, a 1928 cigarette card, and an 1830 print. It observes the dial's historical repositioning from a gable to ground level between 1830 and 1908, clarifies Mrs. Gatty's potentially inaccurate references to its date and location, and encourages a visit to the Minster.
Dials: Multi Faced, Historical Dials
December 2008
Page 163
Page 163
This article reports on the Malvern pillar dial, noting its removal from an old cross shaft and replacement with a gabled cross. The original cube dial has been refurbished or replaced, and is now mounted on a short column in the churchyard. It also mentions a modern cube dial by Liz Leighford based on a similar design.
Dials: Cube, Historical Dials, Restoration projects
December 2008
Page 164
Page 164
This article explores the evolution and loss of English mass (scratch) dials, viewing it as a continuous dynamic process. It highlights the destructive forces of weathering and church rebuilding and suggests that there was universal adoption of these simple devices in medieval churches before their displacement by scientific dials and mechanical clocks, mostly in the 17th century.
Historical Dials, Dials: Mass Dials
December 2008
Page 166
Page 166
This article details the reproduction of a sine quadrant from a preserved Timbouctou manuscript for a documentary film. It describes the instrument's function in solving trigonometric problems without manual calculation, like determining unequal hours, and its historical context as a teaching tool in Islamic astronomy. The author discusses the challenges of interpretation and the modern construction using laser-cut perspex.
Construction Projects, Dialling Tools, Historical Dials, Mathematics of Dialling
December 2008
Page 168
Page 168
Reviews two books: Les Méridiennes du Monde et Leur Histoire by Andrée Gotteland (2 volumes, 850 meridians in 24 countries, including midday canons and industrial meridians) and Mass Dials On Yorkshire Churches by Alan Cook (monograph on 83 churches with mass dials, discussing variations and survival rates, well-illustrated).
Book Reviews
December 2008
Page 169
Page 169
A light-hearted alphabetical list of terms and concepts related to sundials and dialling. It covers various aspects from Apparent time to Zodiac, including types of dials, mathematical concepts, and references to the British Sundial Society and its members.
How Sundials Work, The BSS and Members
December 2008
Page 170
Page 170
This article presents a method for designing polar sundials for any latitude and declination using four simple formulae. It explains that polar dials have a style parallel with the dial plane and parallel hour lines, and describes how to determine the angle of the equinox line and the sub-style hour angle.
Dials: Polar, How Sundials Work, Mathematics of Dialling, Sundial Design & Layout
December 2008
Page 172
Page 172
This article investigates the historical existence of a sundial on the south wall of the Bodleian Library, depicted in Loggan's 1675 drawing and a later 1818 engraving. It provides evidence for its reality, discusses its disappearance by 1814-1880 due to redundancy and weathering, identifies Richard Hawkins as its painter in 1641, and suggests its original positioning.
Dials: Vertical, Historical Dials
December 2008
Page 176
Page 176
This article complements a previous one on the Liverpool Road Station sundial, Manchester. It discusses the dial's positioning at first-floor level, its installation in 1833, and its crucial role in regulating train timings by local apparent time before the introduction of uniform Railway Time in the 1840s, highlighting the sundial's importance in early railway operations.
Dials: Horizontal, Historical Dials
December 2008
Page 178
Page 178
A UK visitor's account of the 14th NASS Conference in St Louis, covering the coach tour to various sundial sites like the Jefferson Barracks and Missouri Botanical Gardens, presentations on topics such as digital wall dials and the equation of time, and the distribution of dialling software. It notes the smaller attendance compared to BSS meetings but high standard of events.
Historical Dials, Sundial Design & Layout, The BSS and Members
December 2008
Page 184
Page 184
This article proposes the logarithmic spiral as the sole mathematical function needed for designing a polar south sundial, where one spiral segment forms the gnomon profile and another acts as the dial face. It details the spiral's characteristics, equations for tangents and arc lengths, and presents a calculation example for a model, illustrating its construction and operation.
Construction Projects, Dials: Polar, Mathematics of Dialling, Sundial Design & Layout
December 2008
Page 188
Page 188
This short note features an illustration from John Blagrave's "The Mathematical Jewel" showing a diallist determining wall declination. It briefly mentions Blagrave's life in Reading and the various tools depicted in the drawing, such as a square, plumb-bob, and simple theodolites.
Dialling Tools
December 2008
Page 189
Page 189
A report on Joanna Migdal, a prominent sundial maker. It covers her artistic training, apprenticeship with Edwin Russell, and her unique methods for creating bronze sundials, including water jet cutting, hand-finishing, engraving with burrs, and chemical patination. The article highlights her award-winning work, design process, and other artistic commissions, and notes her links with the British Sundial Society.
December 2008
Page 193
Page 193
A report on the BSS Sundial Safari to the Alsace region of France, detailing visits to various towns and villages. It describes numerous sundials encountered, including those at Strasbourg Cathedral, Soultz, Guebwiller, St-Marc convent, Colmar, Eguisheim, Riquewihr, Bergheim, Mont Ste-Odile (featuring a polyhedral dial), and Freiburg (Germany), as well as the Kirschgarten Museum in Basel.
Dials: Vertical, Dials: Multi Faced, Historical Dials, The BSS and Members
December 2008
Page 197
Page 197
This note presents a drawing of Henry Gyles, a celebrated glass-painter from York and prolific stained glass dialmaker, from the British Museum collection. It compares this effigy with a self-portrait Gyles used as his tradecard, highlighting the rarity of having multiple portraits of early dialmakers.
Historical Dials, Dials: Stained Glass
December 2008
Page 198
Page 198
This article provides additional information about a meridian line at Bramshill House, Hampshire. It details a 1770 manuscript by S. Dunn containing notes on spherical trigonometry and meridian line calculations. It confirms the line's date before 1770 and discusses the context of 18th-century mathematical sophistication and notes from Mrs. Gatty that imply the existence of other dials at the location.
Dials: Noon Lines, Historical Dials, Mathematics of Dialling
December 2008
Page 203
Page 203
This article investigates a puzzling sundial in the Rose Garden of Villa Cimbrone at Ravello, Italy. Despite its fine design and the builder's knowledge of clocks, the dial's inclination and gnomon angle are incorrect for its latitude, suggesting it was originally a horizontal dial for England or is a non-dial. It also mentions another horizontal dial at the villa.
Dials: Unusual, Historical Dials