Of course it was closed (and the gate locked) when we arrived. We could see someone mowing the lawn (a PhD student from the Ukraine, we discovered later). "I was afraid of this," I said. But YC simply walked over to what appeared to be an intercom and rang the bell. When no one spoke and nothing happened she rang the bell again.
Then we saw a woman (with a big yellow Labrador) leave the observatory building and get in a car. The car moved in our direction. Upon arriving at the gate the woman got out of the car and questioned YC.
And in another moment of Irish magic, the woman said she would let us in.**
We heard the history of Dunsink and Irish Mean Time.*** YC and Hillary talked a good long while - YC explaining a bit about the connection between Dunsink and her research and Hillary speaking of mathematics and mathematicians and "jumbling numbers." Then Hillary reminded YC, "You are stardust. Tell them that."
We took photos of the clocks and a few other things. We said our thanks and took our leave.
 |
| Seriously, we were at the end of the road. |
 |
| It doesn't look like anyone is home. |
 |
| Inside the observatory (the roof no longer opens - they use the telescope in the building outside). |
 |
| Alex greeted us warmly. |
 |
| The slave clock. |
 |
| More clocks and equipment. |
 |
| I just took photos. Really. |
 |
| More clocks. |
 |
| Apparently Hamilton came up with his idea while walking in downtown Dublin. He was afraid he would forget it and jotted it down on the bridge he was walking across. Math graffiti. Yikes! |
 |
| This building houses the current telescope. |
 |
| It is an impressive place. |
We are nerd travelers and we admit it. We go to plays and museums, to libraries and observatories. But don't forget, we are stardust.
NOTES:
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunsink_Observatory
**There is a story about people going up to visit a famous building only to find it closed. Then, or so the story goes, the custodian came out and gave them a guided tour, considering they had come so far. Like I said, it is a story, but this time it really happened.
***http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_in_Ireland
Date of visit: 9-18-14
I was at a meeting with mathematics professors yesterday. I was telling the tale of this famous mathematician who scribbled a formula on the bridge, thus creating the first "math graffiti." I got to "he was walking along the river and did not want to forget the formula he had just worked out" when I was interrupted. "Are you talking about Hamilton and the formula for quarternions?" asked one of the professors. We all turned and stared at him. He is one guy who knows his math history. Ah, we are all stardust. And I guess everyone loves a good math graffiti story.
ReplyDelete