Aspiring to Understanding

The symbolism in this image is so strong -- the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, featuring the solar telescope through which passes the Prime Meridian (zero degrees) of the world's modern navigational reference system, against a clear winter sky in mid-November 2007, laced with the contrails of international flights passing over London. The observatory is a standing museum to the sciences of astronomy, navigation and timekeeping, so vital to the exploration of the world in the days when sail ruled the seas. Two centuries later new forms of transport have taken over, created by engineers who stood on the shoulders of the giants of the past. The photograph was a simple one, a mere snapshot, but the material so offered itself to the lens! Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Photo by Mike, 2007.