Monumental Sundial

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Monumental sundial by Filippo Camerota, Luise Schnabel, Giorgio Strano
Outside the Museo Galileo
Piazza dei Giudici
Florence, October 2013

“Conceived as a ‘mathematical ornament’ for the Institute and Museum of the History of Science, the sundial indicates true solar time for the place where it is located. The shadow cast by the glass globe atop the large bronze gnomon indicates the date and time. The hours from 9:00am to 2:00pm are marked out by radial brass lines while the date is indicated by the travertine traversal lines which signal the Sun’s diurnal course for various periods of the year – precisely when the star enters the signs of the Zodiac. The shadow cast by the gnomon changes in length during the course of the days and seasons, and indicates a different time than that of our wristwatches. In respect to true solar time, mean time indicated by our wristwatches has a periodic variation that during the course of a year can exceed a quarter of an hour. Moreover, when it is daylight saving time, during the spring and the summer, the hands of a clock are moved forward one hour. For example, true midday in the month of February would be indicated by the sundial around 12:28 pm while in the month of July it would be indicated around 13:20 pm daylight saving time.” (The sundial, Museo Galileo)