Sundials and the Science of Time
2025:
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This workshop is not currently scheduled. It is also offered as a private tutorial, starting at $500 per person, online or at your location (travel expenses at standard rates).
The science of time was the key to exploring and mapping the world. In this workshop, participants build their own sundials while learning all about time in its various forms from sidereal time and Greenwich Mean Time to local apparent time and Daylight Saving Time. And we'll discuss the nature of time as understood in modern physics, touching on relativistic time dilation and its effect on your own smartphone.
We'll learn how to adjust backyard sundials, and how to read the time of day just by observing the Sun in the sky. We'll cover the Julian and Gregorian calendars, leap years and leap seconds, sextant time sights and the mysterious "equation of time", all viewed through the lens of thousands of years of fascinating history.
Taught by Frank Reed, a gifted teacher and a recent guest expert in celestial navigation on Neil deGrasse Tyson's StarTalk science talk show on The National Geographic Channel.
- Saturday & Sunday, 10am-4pm.
- Requirements: Basic addition and subtraction.
- Recommended for ages 10 and up.
Comments:
Lee Schacter wrote: 2👍
A great course and teacher. Finally got my head around celestial navigation...
Doug MacPherson wrote: 23👍
I recently took online versions of Frank Reed's "Celestial Navigation in the Age of Sail", and "Lunars - Finding Longitude by Lunar Distances". I couldn't have been more happy with them. Having originally learned post WWII celestial methods as an officer in the United States Navy, and taken it up as a hobby, I was quite familiar with that era's procedures. However, I was intrigued by how they managed prior to then. Frank's two classes filled that void. His vast knowledge of the subject, both the technical aspects of the work as well as the historical significance were perfectly balanced. These are classes that can be thoroughly enjoyed by both the novice as well as the well versed practitioner. Recipe's for doing the work, the science behind those recipes, and actual voyages by the sailors that practiced the art were all presented with wonderful clarity. If "time sights", "cleared lunar distances" or "apparent time" have ever roused an interest, you owe it to yourself to take one of Frank's classes.
Doug MacPherson
Lieutenant, USN sep.
Philip M. Sadler wrote: 85👍
What a joyful and stimulating experience to enroll in Frank Reed's class, Celestial Navigation: 19th Century Methods. Frank is a skillful and engaging teacher, able to draw students into this fascinating subject, whether they be novice or experienced. His depth of knowledge is tremendous. Participants get a real taste of what it was like to be aboard a sailing ship of the day. I learned much to enliven my own teaching and decode 19th century ship's logs. It is a rare experience, indeed, to have so much thoughtfulness, enthusiasm, and fun packed into two days. This is the way to learn!
Philip M. Sadler, Ed.D.
F.W. Wright Senior Lecturer in Celestial Navigation
Harvard University Astronomy Department
Cambridge, MA
