The Light
The lighthouse has had four different light sources during its history.
First, it had an oil wick lamp, and then an oil vapor lamp, Three different fuels, whale oil, lard oil, and kerosene, were used while the oil lamps were in use. Later, two different kinds of electric lights were used.
The Station emitted a beam of light, which was swept across the arc to seaward of the Point. The lamp's light was concentrated into a beam with a first-order Fresnel lens. The lens was almost 9 feet (3 m) tall and weighed 4,330 pounds. The entire structure, including the pedestal and clockworks was 18 feet (5 m) tall and weighed 9,570 pounds (4,341 kg).
Read more about this topic: Point Sur Lighthouse
Famous quotes containing the word light:
“People have passed through a very dark tunnel at the end of which there was a light of freedom. Unexpectedly they passed through the prison gates and found themselves in a square. They are now free and they don’t know where to go.”
—Václav Havel (b. 1936)
“Awareness of the stars and their light pervades the Koran, which reflects the brightness of the heavenly bodies in many verses. The blossoming of mathematics and astronomy was a natural consequence of this awareness. Understanding the cosmos and the movements of the stars means understanding the marvels created by Allah. There would be no persecuted Galileo in Islam, because Islam, unlike Christianity, did not force people to believe in a “fixed” heaven.”
—Fatima Mernissi, Moroccan sociologist. Islam and Democracy, ch. 9, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. (Trans. 1992)