Four Admission Tickets to The Mary Baker Eddy Library/Mapparium
Item Number: 127
Time Left: CLOSED
Description
You are bidding on four admission tickets to the Mary Baker Eddy Library/Mapparium.
The Mapparium is a three-story tall globe of stained glass that is viewed from a 30-foot-long (9.1 m) bridge through its interior. It is a unique exhibit at The Mary Baker Eddy Library in Boston, Massachusetts.
The hard spherical surface of the globe reflects sound and produces striking acoustical effects. It forms a remarkable whispering gallery so that visitors standing at corresponding locations near opposite ends the bridge can speak to each other and be heard as if they were standing next to each other. One visitor writes:
"There are many whispering galleries around the world, such as in St Paul's Cathedral in London, or the Echo Wall in Beijing's Temple of Heaven. However, the Mapparium is different in that speaking in any direction, since it is a full sphere, will result in the same effect. Furthermore, standing in the middle of the sphere and speaking produces the unnerving effect of hearing yourself in surround sound with startling clarity."
The Mapparium was designed to allow the countries of the world to be viewed in accurate geographical relationship to each other. It is usually assumed that a globe solves this problem; but since it is viewed from the outside, different parts of the globe are at different distances from the eye and are thus distorted by perspective.
Hence the specially accurate effect gained by viewing the Mapparium—a mirror-image, concave reversal of the Earth—from within. This is the only configuration that places the eye at the same distance from every point on the map.
Andrew Sinclair's comments show the success of this idea
- The Mapparium is so large, and you can see so much of it at once (because it’s concave instead of convex), that you can really get an idea of relative sizes and distances. For example, you can see why a plane from London to San Francisco flies over Washington and Oregon. You also notice just how far north the United States, Europe, and Asia are. Standing at the equator, you really have to strain your neck to see them.
The Mary Baker Eddy Library
200 Massachusetts Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
Visit http://www.marybakereddylibrary.org/ for hours, exhibits, collections, parking, and more.
Special Instructions
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A FUNDRAISING EVENT AND THERE ARE NO REFUNDS.
Checks to be made out to FRANKLIN PTO. We will be at Franklin Elementary on Wednesdays (March 13, 20 and 27) at dismissal time to distribute winner’s items and collect payment. Individual arrangements will be made for winners outside of Franklin Elementary and/or who need to charge on their credit card. Winner pays for any shipping required, at USPS First Class rates. Mail Checks to: JULIET HARRISON, FRANKLIN PTO, 160 RANDLETT PARK, WEST NEWTON, MA 02465.
All winning bidders will be charged a transaction fee of 5% of their bid to cover a portion of the 9% auction transaction fees that are charged to Franklin by BiddingforGood. We thank you for helping with this and supporting the school.