Message-Id: <3.0.3.32.19971120115040.0068fc2c@mail.walltech.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 1997 11:50:40 -0600
To: pinhole@exploratorium.edu
From: geoff ruth <geoffr@eastside.org>
Subject: Re: rising up to meet the sky
In-Reply-To: <v01540b02b099abbf4e28@[192.174.2.170]>
Thank you Eric! A couple weeks ago, exactly the same thing happened to me
and some students out at Pt Reyes. I responded, "Duuuh..."
One idea (which I'm pretty sure is wrong) is that you're looking down on
the ocean from 2 meters in height (roughly) and therefore you're seeing it
from an angle that makes you see more of the ocean and less of the sky. Or
maybe it's because your eyes are angled down towards the ground and
therefore you see more of the ocean, which makes it appear to be rising up
to the sky. My third idea is that it's all an optical illusion because
we're not used to seeing so much flat space at any one time (a similar
optical illusion to the moon looking huge in the sky.)
What do you all think?
Eastside School
2101 Pulgas Avenue
East Palo Alto, CA 94303
(650) 323-5898