World’s Largest Sundial
March 27th, 02007 by Kevin KellyFound via Kircher Society
This past September the French army installed 600 one meter square reflective panels in the shape of Roman numerals on the sands of Mont Saint-Michel, a small rocky island off the coast of Normandy. The island’s 150-foot abbey spire cast a shadow three quarters of a mile long that swept across the numerals, making the timekeeper the largest sundial ever constructed, beating out Jaipur, India’s Samrat Yantra.
Video of the sundial in action (be patient, it’s slow. but worth it).
Not reported is why the French army made this wonderful environmental art piece. Hard to imagine the US army doing the same.
March 27th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Wow that is a truly stunning project, and video. I would love to find out more.
April 16th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
Yes, that is stunning and very beautiful. Very impressive. Though I agree the US army will not be doing this any time soon, I don’t think this is the job of an army. I’m happy with my US army being able to fight and fight hard, thank you very much :)
April 21st, 2007 at 1:10 pm
If you’re looking for a reason, don’t ask. They’re French and don’t need one… ;-) …nonetheless, it’s cool.
April 29th, 2007 at 6:50 am
Jeepers in just two comments I see jingoistic amerikanism and anti french racism. I only hope that there was a irony in these comments but i don’t detect it.
I would love to see any army take part in any project that does not involve them with killing people.
In the long view lets look at new ways of deploying the military. Maybe disaster relief teams. (I know they do that a little, but no comparison to the number of disasters they create)
anyhow peace and love people, for all time.