Tuesday, January 16, 2007

How do they do that...?



Another perspective on the London Eye.

I guess this must be something like the view that a fly gets sitting on the inside rim of a bicycle wheel. (Remember, though, you only get ground, or near ground level, shots from me. Unless I happen to be in an aeroplane.)

Actually, I found the engineering feat of the London Eye quite impressive. But then, that kind of thing always impresses me. (Remember also that I was brought up with Meccano!)

I could sit for hours marvelling at a bridge or a skyscraper or The Falkirk Wheel. Feats of clever engineering always provoke a bit of a "wow" response from me, especially if they are on a very large scale.... or on a very small scale.

When I was in Secondary School I used to while away my time in the Latin Class dismantling my mechanical watch. (The Casio digital watch had yet to appear on the scene.) On these occasions the only thing more marvellous than the intricate mechanism of my watch was the fact that the Latin teacher never once asked me why I was taking the thing to bits instead of listening to her - even though I sat at the desk immediately in front of her. It has always formed part of my belief in miracles that I actually passed my Higher Latin exam - even getting a "B" - when I paid so little attention in the class.

Ah, the world is full of wonders!

The so-called "argument from design" may be discredited (and rightly so, for what right have we to expect that we could ever 'prove the existence of God' by any argument) but the intricacies and complexities, balanced with the amazing simplicity, that go to make up the known universe produce an even bigger "wow" response from me, and somehow make me feel justified in holding my belief in God. Real worship is always just a big "wow!"

These rambling reflections were prompted by the fact that I am puzzling over an engineering question myself. Just a couple of weeks to go to dress rehearsal and I haven't quite worked out yet how our giant beanstalk is going to grow up to the sky. Wish I had a fraction of the cash that was spent on the Holyrood Parliament building or the Millenium Dome! But I'm afraid this is going to be another no-budget production. (I'll let you know if I come up with solution... but only if it has worked.)

1 comment:

E.Louise said...

Hello. Thanks so much for your comment on my blog - I love your photos, great shots. I'll be back! Emma