Topic: The World of Sundials –Dave Chapman
Time: Saturday, December 10, 7 p.m.
Place: Avonport, 475 Bluff Road
For the purpose of telling time, sundials have been superseded by clocks and watches, but a well-made sundial can be much more precise than the typical mass-produced garden ornaments one finds today. Best known as a local “lunatic” for his observations of the Moon, our speaker Dave Chapman is also a “Sun worshipper” through his interest in sundials. Dave will explain the basics of sundialling (with an absolute minimum of math and geometry) and then take us on an international tour of sundials he has discovered and photographed during his travels. Everyone in attendance will be able to take home a small sundial craft project for their post-talk amusement. Dave is a Life member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) since the early 1980s (but had a brief tenure as a youth member in the late 1960s). Currently he is 1st Vice President of the RASC Halifax Centre, and he is a past President and past Librarian of the Centre. Nationally, he serves on the RASC Observing Committee and has just finished a 5-year term as editor of the Observer’s Handbook. Recently, the RASC announced the new Explore the Moon beginner’s observing program, based on Roy Bishop’s lunar maps and feature lists, and developed by Dave Chapman and Patrice Scattolin (Centre francophone de Montréal).
Roy will precede Dave’s talk on sundials with a short presentation on that mysterious figure, the analemma.
NOTE: If you might be parking next door at Roy & Gertrude’s home, remember to bring a flashlight to light your way along the adjoining path.