Re: Camera Obscura

[P3D Alexander Klein <klein@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

P3D George Snowdon  <gsnowdon@xxxxxxxxx> writes:

>      In Digest 1323 Edward Hosey described the Camera Obscura still
> operating in San Francisco.
> There is also one in Edinburgh, on the 
> street  -   I forget its name  -  The Royal Mile?  -  
> leading up to the Castle and not far from the Castle.
>     It must have been there for about a century.    My
> Dad took me a couple of times when I was a little lad, although
> we lived a _long_ way away, near Newcastle-on-Tyne in the
> north of England.  The last time I visited was with
> _my_ daughter, 14 years ago.
>     It started as a genuine Camera Obscura, the image
> being focused through a rather large 'pinhole'.   But
> at some point they added a lens to improve the brightness
> and the sharpness.   After all, the skies are usually
> less bright in Edinburgh than they were in ancient Rome.
> And the Romans didn't have optical lenses anyway.   Or
> did they?
>     Like the San Francisco copy, the image is projected
> from the rooftop down to a circular table, and the view 
> is rotated slowly through 360 degrees.
>      
>     But it's not stereo.   So I digress.  Sorry!

Well it's interesting to hear that. When I was there last time
(in 1988, on an InterRail trip at the age of 19), they had a
stereo projection! I just dug out some material:

	The best views of Edinburgh ... are from Calton Hill.
	See the sights! See the show!
	EDINBURGH IN DEPTH
	A 3D full-colour guided tour
	The City Observatory, Calton Hill. Open daily May 14 - Oct 2, 1988
	Shows commence every half-hour 10am - 4.30 pm.
	Admission GBP 1 Children & OAP's 50p (UB40's free Mon-Fri)
	Tel 031 556 4365
	Stereodome gratefully acknowledges the assistance provided by
	the City of Edinburgh District Council, Department of Public
	Relations & Tourism, in the production & publicity material.

So there WAS some stereo ...

alex


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