Contrary to rumour, Isaac Newton has nothing to do with these moon dials at Queens' College
Contrary to rumour, Isaac Newton has nothing to do with these moon dials at Queens' College. The curious panel appeared on a Cambridge wall in 1743, and to tell the time from it one did indeed need a university education. That is precisely why moon dials never became as popular as sundials: the shadow cast by the moon alone is not enough to determine the hour; a few further mathematical operations and a special scale of corrections are required. Depending on the phase of the moon, such a dial may run slow or fast by as much as five hours if the special mathematical corrections are not taken into account.