Sir Isaac Newton. The man. The myth. The apple-infused legend. Despite attending Isaac Newton Magnet School for middle school, until registering for HC 407: Isaac Newton: Opticks, Colour, Gravity and Navigation (my other course here in London), I knew very little about the man after whom my old school was named. That changed after yesterday’s class discussion about Isaac Newton by James Gleick. None of us realized that, in addition to his revolutionary discoveries in calculus, gravity, etc., Newton dabbled in rather controversial subjects, like alchemy, theology and even what we of the modern era call embezzlement. He had a pretty diverse resume!
We also did some experiments with prisms and bending light, since Newton explored ‘opticks’ and ‘colour’ as well. These activities were designed to prepare us for our visit to the Tower of London today, where we’ll get to see the Crown Jewels.
Following class yesterday morning, we
had a few hours of down time before a quick tube ride to Waterloo Station and the London Eye this afternoon. It was amazing!!! One turn around took about 3o minutes, and at the top, we were 443 feet up (a bit under the height of the Washington Monument)! We could see for miles in every direction, including a new take on the Parliament buildings and Big Ben!
It was quite hot yesterday, so after taking our ride on the London Eye, we split off into smaller groups and wandered along the refreshingly breezy Thames through Jubilee Gardens before crossing the river toward Covent Garden, a trendy district ripe with street performers, pubs and shops. We found the East India Company shop inside a marketplace from the 1830s, which sold a tea called ‘Boston Tea Party’, designed to ‘revive one after revolutionary activity’! Interestingly, The East India Company was founded under Queen Elizabeth I to search for spices believed to cure the plague, but ended up bringing goods like sugar, coffee and tea to England. That’s right, tea! Tea has only been a part of English culture for a few hundred years! How would Brits be today without access to a good cuppa?
From Covent Garden, we meandered into Leicester Square, aka Theatreland. The area evokes a New York City/Times Square vibe, as it’s packed with glittering lights and signboards, people speaking in all languages and dialects, massive posters for upcoming events and more street performers (including a phenomenal beat boxer). To contrast this modernity, there’s also a statue of William Shakespeare in the middle of the square, surrounded by a fenced-in grassy area where many families were having picnics.
We continued west to Trafalgar Square, where the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery are located (both are places that we’ll visit as a group later). It was here that I truly noticed that the classic architectural style we in the US associate with places of importance, such as the White House, the Abraham Lincoln Memorial, etc., runs rampant amongst even ordinary residences in London. Despite the high-tech skyscrapers and contemporaneity, this really is a city steeped in history.
We concluded our explorations as the sun set in St. James’s Park, a lush haven set just behind the Horse Guards Parade Ground and just in front of Buckingham Palace. It was a lot of fun taking a break from walking (we got in about 12 miles after our trip on the Eye alone) and relax on a bench, watching the passers-by.
St. James’s Park Tube Station was our portal home tonight, and once we returned to Scape, we made dinner in the communal kitchen and had a study party to prepare for today’s English Lit lesson on Beowulf, continued from Monday.
