PLUMB TOWER OF PISA Photo

Photographer’s Note

THE PLUMB TOWER OF PISA

First, a disclaimer: this is not an advertisement for Saul Ewing, whom I do not know!

In a cartoon that one of my students once sent me, two medieval builders were seen, one whispering to the other, “We saved some money on the footings, but don’t worry, no one will ever notice!” Subsequently, I flew into Baltimore-Washington International Airport, and came across this poster — a large back-lit transparency of a medieval architect admiring the plans for his prospective masterpiece, and echoing the same message as my student’s cartoon.

On the grounds of the Campo di Miracoli in Pisa, sits the Cathedral or Duomo, the Baptistry and the famous bell tower. Work on the bell tower of the Cathedral commenced around AD 1160, but right from the beginning the tower began to lean. The builders would get discouraged, abandon it, only to come back and add a few more courses (there are eight courses altogether). Each time the builders returned, they would place heavier weights on the “high side.” With all the delays, the completion of the tower came two hundred years after the construction first began. The height of the tower is 55.86 m (183.27 ft), or approximately 18 stories. In the last two centuries, each time that a tower collapsed somewhere in Italy, a commission would be appointed to save the Tower of Pisa, and each commission’s effort would succeed in doing more harm than good. During WWII, Italian anti-aircraft gunners, trying to shoot down an Allied bomber flying overhead, missed the plane, and shot one of the columns of the much abused tower instead. Happily, the tower survived.

I had seen the Tower in the Campo di Miracoli in a number of visits to Pisa, but the tower itself was always closed to visitors. In 2003 I saw it with stabilizing cables on one side of the tower, and augurs neatly stacked next to the cables. This last effort finally succeeded in straightening the tower by about 40 cm, away from its fatal angle of inclination of 5.5°. They performed their feat by removing dirt from below the high side with the augurs, while stabilizing it with the cables. (Of course, no one would want to see the tower straightened all the way. Who would visit the "Plumb Tower of Pisa!") When I finally saw the tower open to visitors in July of 2005, I immediately purchased a ticket and ascended to the top. The fruits of that effort led to the posting of The Bell Hangs Straight.

Local tradition has it that four hundred years ago Galileo, the ‘Father of Physics,’ discovered the Law of Free Fall, after performing experiments in which he dropped objects from the top. There is no evidence that Galileo actually performed the experiment there, but he was a student and later a professor at the University of Pisa, and he did discover the law of free fall. Most likely, he made his discovery, according to his notes, by performing experiments in which balls were allowed to roll down inclined planes. (Over a century before Galileo, Leonardo had also discovered the acceleration of a falling body to be a constant, but did not bother to publish his results.) I would have liked to have repeated Galileo's experiment, dropping a few Euros from the side. But who wants to see the Euro drop!

I would like to dedicate this image to Salvator Barki, my compatriot and friend from Istanbul, who is allowing me to use his beautiful image of The Tower of Pisa in a lecture I’m scheduled to give on May 13 at the National Geographic Society. If anyone living in the Washington DC area is interested in attending, please see the announcement National Geographic Society about the lecture, "Leonardo's Universe.'

Wandering_Dan, zeynepe, jhm, feather, avene, vincz, Mediterranean, dorte_s_t, papagolf21, jean11-3, ramesh_lalwani, Silversnow, AROBN54, MLINES, gunbud, John_F_Kennedy, Henryk_Bilor, Emile, wilkinsonsg has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

paprika-jancsi (1950) 2008-05-06 8:59

Hahaha, Prof. Bulent. excellent joke. Scholarly notes, of course. I myself climbed the tower in 1956 in the company of a bunch of American soldiers who busied themselves throwing stuff down from the top. It was fun, but a dizzying experience. Regards, Janos

Wandering_Dan (3211) 2008-05-06 9:28

Hi, Bulent -

Cute! I just hope the TE gods don't take it away. Great note, too.

Best,
Dan

zeynepe (9342) 2008-05-06 10:12

Bülent Bey Merhaba,
Harika bir kare:) Güzel fotoğraflarınız ve notlarınız sayesinde ne kadar çok şey öğreniyoruz:)
Tebrikler,
Zeynep Erek

feather (49858) 2008-05-06 13:14

It is a very clever poster, and of course with your background you appreciated it enough to share the joke. Well spotted.
Kath

Glint (3040) 2008-05-06 13:14

hello Bulent,
I am ashamed to say that I have not kept abreast of your pictures, much to my loss. However, I spotted this and it, together with your marvellous note (and linked photo by Salvator) is very timely as I fly to Pisa in July. I will be staying in the Tuscan town of Lucca so if you have any information I would be more than delighted to receive it!.
best regards
Bev
ps I will save you to my favourites so as to keep up with your postings.

salvator (18763) 2008-05-06 15:28

Hello Bulent Bey,
I cannot say how flaterred I feel for this beautiful dedication. Thank you very much. The photo is full of wit full of cleverness, and split second decision. The notes are a pleasure to read as always. Thank you again.
Best personal regards. Salvator.

vincz (19039) 2008-05-07 1:41

Great note, fantastic poster with such vivid colors. Very funny, great catch!

Mediterranean (832) 2008-05-07 2:58

hi mr.atalay
fantastic and funny artwork,very sharp details
you had a splendid idea with the perfect note
I like very much the green color in this poster
well done
my regards dear professor

jhm (82297) 2008-05-07 3:42

Hello Dear Bulent,

I think that you as Prof. have to are very enthusiasm when one of your students come with this poster!
You as expert about a lot old buildings and Leonnardo code, and your note is again a open book for my, I have again someting learned today,this is the splendid site from TE.
You're also the Prof for my, I life with your also.
Thanks for sharing.

Warmest regards,
John.

avene (10944) 2008-05-07 4:09

hello Bulent,
unusual apporach to tell about the world-famous Tower, that's for sure, but it works really well, and I'm glad that so far it has survived the scrutiny by TE moderators. your note is pleasure to read, as usual, and together with the brightly coloured photo of a poster creates an entertaining and educating story. thanks :)

with kind regards,
Kristine

dorte_s_t (2285) 2008-05-07 4:26

Hi Bulent .
It has taken me some time to get from the posting to now writing a comment !
And the time was well worth it as it always is when you are posting here on TE .
First one enjoys the humorous side of this photo , then your interesting and humorous
note and finally the links to your friend's fabulous photo of the Tower of Pisa and the link to the lecture you're giving on Leobnardo's Universe .
I would definately go if I had the opportunity !!!
You are a first class TE contributor !!
Kindest regards
Dorte.

papagolf21 (56233) 2008-05-07 4:41

Bonjour, mon bon ami Bulent,
Savoir mêler l'humour au talent et à l'observation, cela relève déjà d'une perception particulière du monde qui nous entoure.
L'encadrement est parfait pour donner toute la force à cette image.
Très bonne journée.
Amitiés.
Philippe

kandaras (256) 2008-05-07 4:44

cok derin mesajli bir kare olmus, butur calısmalar zenginlik katiyor ortama, elinize saglik hocam
kolay gelsin

setenay (7604) 2008-05-07 7:59

Merhaba Bülent Bey,
Ne kadar net,doğal ve canlı renkli fotoğraf,poster adeta üç boyutlu gibi algılanıyor.Çerçeveside çok yakışmış,elinize sağlık.Yeni kitabınız içinde kutlarım.Türkçesi yayınlanırsa okuma fırsatı buluruz umarım.
Italyaya ilk 1989 da gittiğimizde Pisanın aşınmış merdivenlerinden çanın altına kadar tırmanmıştık sonrası ziyaret dediğiniz gibi yasaklandı.
Selam ve saygılarımla
setenay

stelli (2941) 2008-05-07 8:54

Unique post! I love the note! Thank you for sharing! Regards Stella

Tobias__Ortmann (2589) 2008-05-07 10:08

Hi bulent very good shot
perfect sharpness and this green...amazing
well done
Toba

Silversnow (2107) 2008-05-07 10:47

Heheheee... Very funny publicity :D

amazon (10599) 2008-05-07 13:23

ogretmen her yerde ogretmendir ...te'de fotograf yuklerken bile,bir de ingilizcem rahatca,sıkılmadan notlari cozecek kadar idare etseydi...neyse olanla yetinip daha fazla yukaridaki karenizle vakit gecirecegim sanirim,
cok eglenceli,ellerinize saglik,
selamlar istanbul'dan,
iffet

AROBN54 (10725) 2008-05-07 17:10

Warm greetings, Bulent,
you do the most awesome notes. The color and clarity of this shot is brilliant! Absolutely wonderful. Superb detail, perfectly cropped and the framing is masterful. It looks SOO good. This is just marvelous. I love it! Many thanks and kindest wishes,
Shelly

daddo (11310) 2008-05-07 17:24

Merhaba Bulent Bey. Anecdotes, history, humour, erudition...it's all there when you post something. and that doesn't even include the photograph! excellent photo with its illuminated appearance. Nicely framed and nicely interwoven within the text. Best wishes. Klaudio.

MLINES (10868) 2008-05-07 17:30

Hi Bulent, A very fun posting showing your range of talent and sense of humour. The notes on the historical side are good to read. My plan is to visit Italy in the next couple of years and this is adding spice to that dream! TFS. Murray.
I hope we meet one day.

gunbud (27787) 2008-05-07 18:32

Hi Bulent,
Excellent capture of this humorous add for a lawyer I would guess. Brilliant clear color with excellent framing. Very interesting note about the great Galieleo.
Regards, Tom

John_F_Kennedy (31229) 2008-05-08 4:23

Excellent joke and publicity, great.
Best wishes,
Achim

Angshu (33585) 2008-05-08 20:45

Hello Professor 'A'
The leaning Tower of Pisa would have had grey cells ticking amongst many a creative individual & one such body created this ad..With your engaging note about the history of the tower, this makes wonderful viewing. I do not see any reason why this photograph would not fit with the objective of TE!
With Warm Regards
Angshuman

saylan-cb (12726) 2008-05-09 5:18

Merhaba Bülent Bey,
Çok hoş ve etkileyici bir kare.Renkler,ışık,çerceve ve bilgilendirici notunuzla mükemmel bir çalışma.
Ellerinize sağlık
Selamlar/Saygılar

Emile (19901) 2008-05-14 13:43

Hola Bulent.
Very funny poster but at the same time very well captured photo with perfect sharpness and vivid colors. Good work. Congratulation for your new lecture Leonardo’s Universe and author of Math and the Mona Lisa: The Art and Science of Leonardo Da Vinci. Wow!!.
Very well done. TFS.
Best regards.

crckt (7072) 2008-05-15 12:09

Hi Prof. Bulent,
An awesome shot in terms of clarity and color. Does have a lot of drama. I like it a lot, thanks for sharing.
Shaeri

siolaw (25722) 2008-05-22 8:51

Hi Bulent
A funny compo perfectly framed and with realistic looking colors, as sharp as it gets... an extensive and interesting note too!
Greetings
Laurent

wilkinsonsg (8646) 2008-05-22 13:19

Fun shot with a serious message - don't cut corners ;)

Bluejeans (32053) 2008-07-19 3:21

Ola Bulent ,
Ahahah , esta tua foto tem piada :), um poster muito bonito e com belas cores, a frase e bem sarcástica , parabéns!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

Flavia (10202) 2008-12-06 16:10

Hi Bulent,

Funny one! I like a lot the poster. Its crispy sharp and the green color is great.

Regards,

Flavia