Last Friday we traveled a long journey to Franeker, a small country sized city in The Netherlands. During our trip there, we saw many things that sparked my interest. A few things were a bridge that actually turned about 90 degrees in order for ships to access the canal, different style of architecture, and a few shops along the way. What really sparked my interest though was the idea of a planetarium inside a Dutch home.
Eise Eisiang, a man from Franeker, decided that he was going to build a completely functional planetarium inside of his living room. The space used for the planetarium was where his family would sit, and actually sleep! What was so amazing though was that the planetarium is still accurate to this very day. Not only does it make a beautiful ceiling for the sitting room, but it also displays several things related to the sky and the stars above. A quick example would be that the phases of the moon, alignment of the planets, and an accurate date are still being marked on his ceiling, even after hundreds of years!
Wasn't it beautiful! It's crazy to think that he made that himself, hammering every single nail because he was too worried that if someone else did it, they wouldn't get the right measurement in between every nail, which he wrote very specific details on for his sons. Not to mention, the fact that they still use those instructions to this day, still blows my mind!
ReplyDeleteIt was amazing to walk through his house and see all his plans! I thought is was amazing that he calculated all the sizing and how accurate everything was! The gearing and pulley system design was crazy too!
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