Sundials: History, Theory, and Construction

Sundials: History, Theory, and Construction is a Natural Science class taught by Steve Roof.

This course satisfies Division I requirements.

Course Description
Sundials have been used for telling time for more than 4,000 years. While digital clocks and watches have largely relegated sundials to garden art, the study of sundials can help us learn more about Earth, astronomy, trigonometry, and human history. In this course, we will explore the development of sundials, discover how they work, and create sundials of our own. A well designed and constructed sundial can be a beautiful piece of art as well as an accurate clock and calendar. The best sundial designs will be considered for permanent placement on the Hampshire College campus.

Learning Goals

 * Quantitative
 * Presenting
 * Project-based

Assignments
[[Media:Earth_Sun_movements_and_the_telling_of_Time_Questions.pdf|Earth Sun movements and the telling of Time Questions]]

[[Media:Sundial_Calculations_I.pdf|Sundial Calculations I]]

[[Media:Anchorage_and_Mexico_City_horiz_sundial_design_assignment.pdf|Anchorage and Mexico City horiz sundial design assignment]]

[[Media:Sundial_Project_Initial_Description.pdf|Here are your guidelines for your initial description of your sundial project]]

Readings
[[Media:Waugh_Chapters_1_-_2_and_Tables_A1_A2.pdf|Chapters 1 and 2, and Tables A1 and A2 from Waugh (1973) "Sundials: Their theory and construction" book]]

[[Media:Waugh_Ch_5_Horizontal_Sundials.pdf|Waugh Ch 5 - Horizontal Sundials]]

"Hours and hours" - Here is a great article describing different types of hours used by different cultures throughout history

[[Media:Waugh_Creating_Lines_of_Declination.pdf|The section from Waugh (1973) describing how to create and draw lines of declination on your sundial]] (these are the lines that the shadow traces on the solstices and equinoxes)

[[Media:Waugh_Ch_16_Portable_Dials.pdf|Chap 16 from Waugh (1973) - Instructions to make portable sundials]]

Handouts
[[Media:Parts_of_a_Sundial.pdf|Parts of the basic Sundial]]

[[Media:Sundial_time_performance_recording_sheet.pdf|Sundial time performance recording sheet]]

[[Media:SOH_CAH_TOA.pdf|SOH CAH TOA]]

[[Media:Worksheet_for_Hour_lines_on_a_horizontal_dial.pdf|Worksheet for Hour lines on a horizontal dial]]

[[Media:Worksheet_for_Lines_of_Declination_on_a_horizontal_dial.pdf|Worksheet for Lines of Declination on a horizontal dial]]

[[Media:Using_Excel_spreadsheets_to_do_sundial_calculations.pdf|Using Excel spreadsheets to do sundial calculations]]

Table of Sin Cos Tan values (in case your calculator dies)

Other Resources
♦ Sundial Sculptures John Carmichael builds many types of beautiful sundials. Be sure to check out the photos and the Functions pages.

♦ The North American Sundial Society

♦ Sundial Glossary

♦ The British Sundial Society

♦ Introduction to Sundials

♦ Types of Sundials

♦ The Equation of Time

♦ Analemma.com - A great site explaining why solar time is different from clock time

♦ NOAA Solar Calculator: Find Sunrise, Sunset, Solar Noon and Solar Position for Any Place on Earth

♦ [[Media:Rob_Ives_equatorial_sundial_kit.pdf|Here's a self-contained kit for making an equatorial ring sundial]]

Sundial Gallery
Please post your favorite pics or links to inspiring sundials here!

Upload the image or copy the URL.

Edit this section.

Links

 * Cool carved out sundial at Machu Picchu

Here's a beautful stained glass window pane incorporating a sundial. If someone wants to make one like this for my living room, I wouldn't object!

http://www.sundialsculptures.com/gallery/