This summer I went to Paris, France for a family vacation. While I was there I went, as every tourist in Paris is required to go, to the Eiffel Tower. While at the Eiffel Tower I was mesmerized by the view and the grandeur of the structure, however now remembering it I realize the Eiffel Tower in many ways can be related to science.
The Eiffel Tower was built for the Paris World’s Fair of 1889, when it was finished it became the tallest structure in the world at 300 meters. In many ways the tower was magnificent, but originally the tower was only supposed to be temporary and the permits would expire after 20 years, allowing for the tower to be demolished. Many Parisians were in favor of tearing the tower down because they felt that it was an eye sore. Gustave Eiffel, the architect behind the Eiffel Tower, used science to save the tower that now symbolizes France as a whole.
In order to save the Eiffel Tower Gustave Eiffel made the Eiffel Tower a center for science by installing a meteorology laboratory on the 3rd floor. He gave the tower a specific scientific purpose so it would be saved from demolition. The Eiffel Tower would be used for meteorological and astronomi
cal observations, physics experiments, an optical telegraph communications point, and wind studies. Gustave Eiffel encouraged other scientists to use the tower in their experiments. Gustave himself used the tower to conduct 5,000 trials on a wind tunnel experiment. The Eiffel Tower to most is just a beautiful landmark to tour, but science experiments like Foucault’s Pendulum, the mercury pressure gauge, and radio contact were all located on the tower.
Today it is hard to imagine Paris without the Eiffel Tower as a tourist attraction. I know my mom’s desire to see the Eiffel Tower primarily fueled my family vacation this summer. So it is difficult to think that the Eiffel Tower was almost taken down because it was thought of as a “giddy ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack.”
Eiffel Tower Links:
link 1, link 2, link 3, and link 4
Who would have thought the Eiffel Tower would be torn down when it is now considered a beautiful piece of art work that people travel to Paris just to see. I researched other monuments that were torn down and found a long list including: the Garrick Theater in Chicago, Birmingham Terminal Station, Astor House in New York, the Wabash Terminal in Philly. along with others. It is truly sad that beautiful structures are torn down, good thing the Eiffel Tower was not. Also, the Eiffel Tower brings in so much revenue for Paris each year, that it would have actually hurt the country if they tore it down.
I knew that the Eiffel Tower was made for the World’s Fair, but I never thought that people would want it to be torn down. I like how this post both has science relations and a little history lesson.
I never knew that there ever was a risk of the Eiffel Tower being torn down. But if you think about it, back then, a lot of things were not appreciated in their own time. Especially when it came to art and science. Many artists did not become known until after their death. Also many of the scientists whose theories we still use today were discriminated against because of their then “radical” hypotheses. For example, <a href=”http://www.biography.com/people/galileo-9305220"Galileo was convicted of heresy for his scientific belief and spent the entirety of his later life under house arrest. Although later on in history he was given the name “The Father of Modern Science”, and his scientific findings were acknowledged.