BC Gnomonics

Using sundials in daily life today may seem impractical. For those uninterested or interested only in the novelty of bygone technology, the thought of pulling out a pocket dial throughout the day rather than a smartphone likely seems horribly pointless, cumbersome, and regressive. Even for many sundial enthusiasts, the concept may seem romantically appealing yet unrealistic. For those dedicated few, however, those who appreciate the beauty in anachronism and the intrinsic value it offers, the prospect can become feasible.

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By relaxing our expectations of atomic accuracy and approaching the challenge with the fluidity, dedication, and preparation necessary to rewrite our relationship to time and the natural world, the practice of using these ancient tools in a modern context begins to crest the horizon of impossibility.

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When approaching this topic, it is important to keep in mind that a sundial is not a 1:1 replacement that matches the utility and intuitiveness of modern timekeepers. It is, by many accounts, an obsolete instrument built for a society and mentality fundamentally different from our own. Due to the modern invention of standard time, many people do not understand that time was ever linked to the position of the sun. It is the responsibility of the user to carry conceptual information, such as the equation of time, that allows the dial to reconcile the centuries of societal change.

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Never before has a culture been so disconnected with its relationship to the natural sphere. In terms of celestial motion, few see anything more than beauty and wonder in the turning skies. Despite the cultural necessity for this understanding being at an all-time low, the utility and sense of grounding gained through understanding the ways the celestial sphere can be harnessed and channeled is as valuable and personally enriching as it was centuries ago. Technology today is largely a dominion over our world and its forces, but the potential remains for technology that collaborates with nature, weaving together the human wrought and the natural to yield genuinely useful outputs that are more fulfilling to access than glancing down at a screen.

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Today, the concept of time has become fundamentally severed from the apparent motion of the sun. Many conceptualize noon not as the sun's culmination, but as 12:00 on a digital display. This reliance on instruments that tell time rather than those that measure time has caused the common understanding of celestial movements to slip into obscurity. An enhanced understanding and awareness of these natural movements is in part a prerequisite, but is more so an illuminating byproduct of sundial use. The simple act of regularly using a sundial links one's conception of time with the natural world, expanding their awareness of its processes and cyclicality. An understanding of civil time's basis on a fictitious sun and knowledge of how to reconcile it with the true sun will drastically streamline the everyday use of sundials. Keeping a mental or physical note of the current EoT and your longitude correction will improve not only your sense of worldly perspective, but the accuracy and reliability of your dial.

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I speak about expanded natural awareness through sundial use and a sense of celestial perspective, but these are not tangible things that can be easily incentivised through words. What I describe is an extremely personal endeavour, and must be pursued and navigated individually. I encourage anyone who finds this appealing to research further, both through scholarship and hands-on experience.

In the paragraphs that follow, I will explain the particular dials that I believe to be the most realistic options for serious contemporary use. The selection is–again–very personal, as the ideal model depends on the lifestyle, geographical location, and personal preference of the user. For the purposes of this catalogue, I have omitted single-latitude dials in lieu of common hour"universal" dials. While all universal in name, some of the following dials feature operational ranges more narrow than others. These details will be noted under the "pros and cons" of each dial.