Plans are in progress to erect a sundial more than 30 feet tall on the University campus.
“This is art with a clear connection to scholarship,” history professor John Nicols said.
The proposed sundial will be a half-size model of one that stood in ancient Rome, the Horologium of Augustus. It will display accurate times from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“During those hours, anyone will be able to visit the site and set their watch by it,” associate professor of architecture Jim Tice said.
Nicols said the project, expected to cost between $100,000 and $200,000, will probably be funded by a donor. A donor has not been found yet, and the approval process for the project is only just beginning as the Campus Planning Committee must still approve the project, so Nicols said it will likely be two to 10 years before the sundial is installed.
Tice said the project could be accomplished in a year or two if everything goes quickly.
“I think it’s a question of will more than anything else,” Tice said.
On a sundial, the pole and its shadow form a right angle, or two of the three sides of a right triangle. Using these two lengths, the length of the third side of the triangle can be calculated. Inputting those calculations into a formula yields the distance from the sun to the Earth, which varies based on time of year and time of day.
Julius Caesar instituted the use of the sun to tell time in 45 B.C. in response to political confusion created by the inaccuracies of
lunar calendars, Nicols said. His successor, Augustus Caesar, put up the obelisk in 10 B.C. It fell over during an earthquake, but the pole was rediscovered during the Renaissance and placed in front of the Italian Parliament building.
About 20 years ago, German archaeologist Edmund Boucher found the obelisk’s face while digging in Rome. At that point, Nicols, who knows Boucher personally, got the idea to set up something similar at the University.
Faculty and students from the departments of architecture, art history, art, physics, history, classics and mathematics are now involved in the project, Nicols said.
Tice is handling the architecture end of the project along with associate professors of architecture Virginia Cartwright and Stephen Duff, as well as graduate students Jonathan Dunn and Daniel Goldstein. He said this project is different from others he has worked on as an academic.
“We’re hoping it will actually be built,” Tice said. “Oftentimes in an academic setting we do things that are not realized.”
Many sites are being considered for the obelisk, but Tice said the site being considered most seriously is the lawn between Knight Library and the School of Music.
“The obelisk located on campus may come to symbolize more than itself,” Tice said. “I think it is a kind of beacon of knowledge and hope and aspiration.”
Construction materials from stone to polished concrete to wood are currently being considered, Tice said.
Margaret Rayfield, a senior history and humanities major, became involved in the project while working as a research assistant for Nicols and said she worked in depth on the aesthetic aspects of the project.
The group working on the project wants the lawn to continue to serve as a recreational spot for students, so the lines that mark the time will have to be unobtrusive and blend into the grass.
Another option under consideration is building the obelisk in the middle of a pond that will serve as a reflecting pool, Rayfield said.
In September 2004, a prototype of the sundial was created on the patio between McKenzie Hall and the Computing Center. Lines were painted on the pavement so that the shadow of an existing light pole would cross them at certain times of day. The white center line represents solar noon and the curved yellow line represents Pacific Standard Time noon.
Fifth-year physics and math major Sandra Penny helped physics professor Robert Zimmerman with the mathematical work to figure out where the lines would go.
“Really, the math is nothing past geometry,” Penny said.
Penny said she used a computer program to calculate distance values for various times of day on the 21st day of every month.
“I’m always pretty baffled by things people figured out thousands of years ago without calculators and computers,” Penny said.
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