Equinoctial Sundial by John Smith
date: label: Date made
content: 1600s
label: Date made
content: 1600s?
name: label: maker
content: Smith, John
notes: label: Description
content: This brass universal equinoctial ring dial consists of a meridian ring, hour ring, rotating crosspiece or bridge, and suspension ring/handle. The suspension ring looks like it should slide, but it does not in its current condition. The meridian ring is calibrated on one side for northern and southern latitudes from 90 to 0 to 84 by half-degree. The reverse contains an elongated nautical quadrant for solar altitude calibrated 0 to 90 by half-degree. The hour ring is calibrated on one side from I to XII x 2 by I. Each hour is divided into increments of 5 minutes; these divisions continue onto the inner edge of the hour ring. The bridge contains a pinhole gnomon sliding over a calendar scale calibrated by 3-letter abbreviations for the English months. There is a declination scale (20 to AE to 20 by 0.5) and zodiacal sign scale on verso. There is no list of cities on this dial. There were numerous John Smiths active in England, but this dial may have been made by the one who died in 1694. This sundial is a transfer from the Findlay Collection in the NMAH Division of Physical Sciences.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United Kingdom: England
label: place made
content: United Kingdom: England
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
label: Subject
content: Timekeeping
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
label: See more items in
content: Science & Mathematics
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MA.319946
label: catalog number
content: 319946
label: accession number
content: 239625
objectType: label: Object Name
content: sundial, equinoctial
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 cm x 21 cm x 27 cm; 13/32 in x 8 9/32 in x 10 5/8 in