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Description: | Portable dial combines a compass whose needle is now missing, equinoctial sundial of traditional Chinese design (unseen in base), and a noon dial for telling the time of year. The equinoctial dial has shaped feet cut into to give it the correct inclination for a latitude of 33 degrees. At noon the main body of the dial was orientated North-South and the baseplate stood on end so that its shadow fell onto the marked area seen in the photograph (see Newsletter). This area is labelled with the 24 seasonal periods that divide the Chinese year. An epigram on the front translates roughly as 'the key to nature is inside your sleeve'. William Knight purchased a Chinese dial compass in 1842. | License: | http://www.abdn.ac.uk/historic/Copyright_terms_conditions.shtml | Publisher: | ABDNP University of Aberdeen, Natural Philosophy Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments | Rights holder: | 47718 | Temporal: | 1812-1842 | Source: | University of Aberdeen | Creator: | Fang Hsiu Shui | Identifier: | http://calms.abdn.ac.uk/Geology/dserve.e... | Go to resource |
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