Of mice and Ed - Redwall, and Coral Castle

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Thu, 09/02/2010 - 13:20

Would it be possible for a small group of mice to construct a huge structure like Redwall using only primitive tools? Would it even be possible for one mouse to complete such a task? For an interesting possible RP for someone to come up with, this would be an interesting subject.

When researching unexplainable phenomenon, a person could point out such things as Stone Henge or the pyramids. I humbly now submit to you, for your consideration, a more recent structure that could possibly answer the question and give way for the possibilities of an architectual superlative to be possible.

If you ever met Edward Leedskalnin, you'd never know he was the man who built (in the early 1900's) what is today called the Coral Castle. This tiny man, standing only about 5 feet tall and weighing around 100 pounds not only built the 1,100 ton structure, he did it single-handedly, using only primitive tools he got from a junk yard.

What's more strange is that no one knows exactly how he did it. Ed only worked at night, and whenever anyone got within about 100 yards of him (which they often did to try and watch him work), he'd somehow know they were there, and politely explain that he was uncomfortable with them watching him, and stop working.

When asked how he did it, he would only explain that he knew the secrets of the pyramids.

The castle itself is inclosed within huge walls, consisting of a large number of various statues and figures. There are photographs showing Ed using a pully, however it could only lift up to 10 tons. Some of the structures within the castle weigh up to 30 tons!

Today, it's still open to the public in Homestead, FL, and has survived over the decades virtually unchanged. Another interesting thing about the structure is that it was moved to Homestead from Florida City! Ed had a trucker help him transport the large structures, but would have the trucker leave for an hour. When the trucker returned, the blocks were on the truck, ready for transport.

One of the more remarkable things in the castle a 9-ton gate, so perfectly balanced that a child can move it using only a finger. The gate suddenly stopped working in 1986. At that time, a team of engineers was brought in for consultation. In order to remove the gate, six men and a 50-short-ton (45 t) crane were utilized. Once the gate was removed, the engineers discovered how Leedskalnin had centered and balanced the 9-short-ton piece of rock. Leedskalnin had drilled a hole from top to bottom of the 8-foot-tall gate with no electric tools and inserted a metal shaft. The rock rested on an old truck bearing. It was the rusting out of this bearing that resulted in the gate's failure to revolve. Even with the knowledge we have today, after the second repairing of the gate in 2005, it does not rotate as smoothly as it did when Ed built it.

How exactly he built it today still remains a mystery that baffles everyone who has tried to explain it. When Edward died, many of his tools were stolen. The very tools that could have explained how he did what he did.

A possible explination could be the theory of magnetic polarity and anti-gravity. In his booklet on magnetic current, he said that all matter consisted of individual magnets, and he believed that magnets from the middle of the earth attracting objects containing both north and south pole magnets cause gravity. According to his theory, if one were to simply change the magnetic polarity of an object, it would then be propelled away from the earth, and so could be 'lifted'. We don't know if this is how he did it - this was only a paper that he wrote.

Though how he did what he did remains a mystery, it can't change the fact that he did what he did, thus giving us the possibility of being able to achieve the same.

[None|An overhead image of Coral Castle]

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PICTURED: Coral Castle from above, and Ed standing with some of his sculptures.

Videos from my trip to Coral Castle:

The amazing sundial Ed made:

The polaris telescope:

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