Savoie Sundials

Design, Construction, and Use
1. Auflage 2009
ISBN: 978-0-387-09802-9
Verlag: Springer
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 188 Seiten

Reihe: Popular Astronomy

Sundials, which decorate church walls, public plazas, and elegant gardens, are first and foremost astronomical instruments. Before understanding how sundials work, one must first understand the apparent motion of the Sun in the sky. In this book, Denis Savoie presents the basics of astronomy required to understand sundials and describes how to design and build your own classical sundial. Written for all levels of science readers, the author shows the calculations involved in the sundial’s construction and also gives a comprehensive history of time measurement. The practical and observational aspects of sundials will enable readers to create custom-made sundial of their own, adding whatever special features they wish to include. Most of these designs have been tested by people with no previous knowledge of astronomy. To aid the reader, the book is full of clear and instructive illustrations and diagrams.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Savoie, Denis

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Contents;5
2;Illustrations;8
3;Preface;11
4;A little astronomy;13
5;An introduction to sundials;37
6;The gnomon;59
7;Equatorial sundials;69
8;Horizontal sundials;79
9;Polar sundials;93
10;Vertical sundials;100
11;Horizontal analemmatic sundials;122
12;Altitude sundials;135
13;Sundials in the tropics;142
14;A little test;149
15;Hour lines;152
16;The equation of time and the Sun’s declination;154
17;Formulae for diurnal motion;158
18;Demonstrations;163
19;Small problems in gnomonics;168
20;Practicalities of constructing a sundial;173
21;Mottoes on sundials;175
22;Bibliography;179
23;Glossary;181
24;Index;184