Cyanometer

A cyanometer is a device for measuring the blueness of the sky.  The original device was invented by a Swiss scientist named Horace Benedict de Saussure in 1790.  Saussure was a dedicated chemist, geologist,and meteorologist.  He grew up among the majestic Alps, where some of the highest points on earth stretch into the sky.  Like any native Switzer, he spent countless hours climbing them.  Up there, the big blue sky can seem within reach.  It's no wonder that he would come up with a way to measure it!  

(Saussure on the 20 Swiss Bank Note and one of his expeditions in the Alps.)

Saussure's cyanometer had 52 shades of blue, tinted from white to black.  He would measure the blueness of the sky at different altitudes, locations, and times of day, in all sorts of conditions.  He concluded that the sky became darker with elevation, something only a mountaineer would notice!  He theorized that the changing shades of blue was due to light filtering through the moisture in the air.  

My version is a lot less scientific, but still fun nonetheless!  I gathered paint sample cards in varying hues of blue and arranged them as best as I could in some sort of progressive scale.  My blues were different hues, as well as tints and shades, so I couldn't just arrange from dark to light, as some seemed more purple or green.  

I used a stiffer board as the base and then penciled out the boundaries; like spokes in a wheel.   I then cut each shape to match the outlines and glued down.  I made sure to leave the labels visible, so that instead of comparing the sky to the degree of blueness on my cyanometer, I could just label the hue of the sky, such as "Blue Chiffon" or "Bright Sailing Sky".  I think I would like to try to make my own blue tints, like Saussure.