Due to popular demand, the last exhibition is back here.
Escher's Waterfall
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When you've finished admiring this masterpiece, you can try to find where are the three cubes. Click on the image to check if you guessed it right. |
The Self-made Waterfall
A more practical version of Escher's waterfall uses a pump, instead of complicated optical illusions, to rise the water to the top. The pump works with the power from the water mill. Can you tell why this is impossible?
| There was a picture (not this one) called "The Vertical Waterfall".
Someone said: "What a stupid name! Not even drunk I've seen a waterfall
that wasn't vertical!" But when you stop to think about it, not even drunk
you've seen a waterfall that was vertical. Water falls in a curve,
it's called a parabola. To be really vertical, water should fall from a
calm lake in the middle of a floating island.
The good bits of the picture are Escher's, the bad bits are mine. If you'd like to see more of the good bits, buy The Graphic Work of M.C. Escher. |
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Are they impossible?
The Round Waterfall
The background of
this page is a copy (from memory) of a gate I saw once in the South of
England, representing a waterfall. Of course, water can't fall following
the arc of a circle... or can it? In principle, you could put a large amount
of water in orbit and make a ring around the Earth. You'd have then a round
waterfall. It looks a bit like the self-made waterfall, though. Is there
any important difference?
| Can waterfalls freeze? And if they do, can they freeze like this?
This picture was made by a student who prefers to stay anonymous. |
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This is one of Frank Lloyd Wright's projects, called "Falling Water".
The waterfall is not a problem, but all the rest is. Was this project something
more than a dream?
If you'd like to know more, take a look at Frank Lloyd Wright: the Masterworks. |