Seeing Things

Eventually, I was able to choose a structure to compare on three different length scales. It came to me when I was sitting in the library one day, studying for midterms, pondering the very thing I could possibly take three photographs of for my bioengineering class. That thing was Van Pelt Library, itself. My smallest level of length scale is an individual book. I estimate the average book to be between 8 and 12 inches in length, and between 6 and 9 inches wide. The next level of length scale is each floor of the library. Each floor contains thousands and thousands of books, separated by subject. The fifth floor, for instance, houses the language and culture books. Finally, the largest length scale is Van Pelt Library as a whole, housing millions of books and separated into 6 floors plus a basement, each floor containing thousands of its own books. Thus, each increase in length scale is a dramatic jump in number, ranging from an 8 by 6 inch book to that number multiplied by the millions of books that are housed in Van Pelt.