The Secret Architecture Of Our Nation's Capital by David Ovason

Author:David Ovason
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2017-06-21T16:00:00+00:00

The bronze statue of Einstein looks in some puzzlement at the pavement of stars, and almost negligently tilts the side of his shoe over the northern stars of Boötes and Hercules. With his left hand, Einstein supports against his leg a sheaf of papers, on the top one of which are written the formulae which summarize his most important mathematical equations—the photoelectric effect, the general theory of relativity, and the expression of the equivalence of energy and matter.

Einstein, who applauded Berks’ portrait of himself in 1954,28 would not have foreseen that his 21-foot-high statue would become among the most popular of all photographic perches for youngsters visiting Washington, D.C. Children now scramble upon his back, more often than not wrapping their legs around his neck so that their knees touch his ample mustache, before smiling for the camera. The classical theme of the contrast between youth and age is delightful, and the freedom of the children to do these acrobatics seems to echo Einstein’s expressed desire for freedom to seek truth in his own way. This desire is inscribed in a lapidary script on the back of the monument on which his statue sits. In truth, the children and Einstein owe their freedom to the secretary of the interior, who conferred on the National Academy of Sciences a title to the land on which the statue now sits only with the understanding that free public access should be available at all times.29

Since the sign Leo was rising over the horizon at noon on April 22, the constellations Leo and Virgo were beneath the Earth, as were the planets Jupiter and Saturn. However, in keeping with the Virgoan tradition which we have repeatedly noted as the hallmark of Washington, D.C., Saturn and the lunar node (the Dragon’s Head) were in Virgo at this foundation time.30

Remarkably, the real mystery of the Einstein Memorial seems to have been overlooked by scholars. The eclipse of September 21, 1922, saw the fixed star Zavijava being used to confirm Einstein’s theory, which was first confirmed by means of the solar eclipse of May 29, 1919, that fell on 8 degrees Gemini. The solar eclipse of September 1922 had fallen on 28 degrees of Virgo. Was it merely serendipity which led the astronomical advisers who erected the Einstein Memorial chart to choose a time for the unveiling of their celestial figure when the planet Venus was exactly opposite this degree?31

It is almost 20 years since Robert Berks designed this marvelous statuary and zodiac, and even longer since he modeled Einstein’s head from life; yet he is still pleased with the work. When we spoke, he seemed especially excited by the glyphs he had invented for the metal studs on the planisphere. When Berks undertook the commission there were no standardized symbols or sigils for such things as quasars, in consequence of which he invented some of the glyphs incised on the metal studs.

He shaped the studs in a particular beveling of six degrees, to ensure that they could be seen at any human height, when viewed from beyond the marble surface.

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