ESC!Webs -- Site of the Week

ESC!Webs Site of the Week

Week of March 28, 1999

Shadows

Design: François Blateyron
Main Web Site: http://web.fc-net.fr/frb/sundials/shadows.html

You know what a sundial is right? I'm willing to bet you just thought you knew! Welcome to the world of François Blateyron. A former amateur astronomer, he soon found that because of time restrictions, he could no longer follow his hobby of watching the stars. Soon he began developing software which covered astronomy and sundials.

Basically this site is a place where you can download François' software for designing your own sundial. While this is not a software review, let me just tell you that I had no idea there were at least nine different types of sundial! Using his software, you are able to design and print out hour lines and declination lines for nine different variations of sundial.

The site is divided into five major sections. The link I provided takes you directly to the download page. What I particularly like about the site is that it is written in both French -- his native language -- and English -- for those of us unable to take French lessons in our scholastic careers.

From the download page you can travel to any one of four remaining links:

Sundials - Takes you to a page explaining François' passion for Astronomy and for sundials. You will also find a good basic description of the four main types of sundial and a series of links leading you to other sundial related sites.

Cadrans Solaires - The French version of the Sundials page.

Virtual Visit - A walking tour of "some of the most beautiful sundials in Paris and Besançon" France. Many of the pictures will also allow you to zoom in closer for a better look.

Home - Unless you speak French, avoid this link. I find this really unfortunate, since François is obviously a very interesting person. It would be nice to be able to read about some of his other hobbies as well.

I downloaded his software and I found the process of creating the sundial lines to be a fascinating one. I'm sure you will as well.

Shadows	Site Rating: 7/10 Pros: Learn something about sundials! Cons: Home page in French only. Need to know your exact location on Earth -- Lat. and Long. -- if your city is not listed in the software. This is fairly easy to find however.
http://web.fc-net.fr/frb/sundials/shadows.html

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