This week, Collected Wisdom turns the spotlight on, well, spotlights. Very old ones.
THE QUESTION: We often hear of someone being put in the "limelight," says Derek Wilson of Port Moody, B.C. What's "limelight"?
THE ANSWER: "When calcium oxide" - also known as lime or quicklime - "is heated in a very hot flame, for example the flame produced by burning hydrogen gas in an oxygen-rich environment, it gives off a very intense, white light," writes Ian Burgess, a chemistry professor at the University of Saskatchewan. In the 19th century, he says, theatres used this technique for their lighting, giving rise to the term "limelight."
Tom Hubert of Toronto has garnered more information on this from The Royal Alexandra Theatre: A Celebration of 100 Years by Robert Brockhouse.
"Around 1859," the book says, "there had been a revolution in theatre lighting with the invention of the limelight - also sometimes called the 'calcium lamp' … [Its]brilliant, white light … could be focused with lenses into a narrow spot or spread out to wash an entire stage. … It was wonderful, but it generated a lot of heat and had to be constantly monitored; improperly tended limelights were known to explode. And so not surprisingly, theatres caught fire with great regularity."
A final word on this from Douglas Rodger of Toronto, who says he "can still recall working with stage managers of English touring shows at the Royal Alexandra Theatre who referred to the spotlight operators as 'limes.'"
THE QUESTION: When the government goes into billions of dollars of debt, where does it go to borrow the money? Who has that kind of cash to lend? asks Lucien Saumur of Kanata, Ont.
THE ANSWER: "There are two ways for governments to get more money," writes Henry Ko of Montreal. "One is just to print the stuff, as they are in the enviable position where it is legal to do so." However, he says, this is frowned upon - it devalues the currency and can lead to inflation as more money chases the same amount of goods and services, although printing money is acceptable when there is growth and increasing economic activity.
"The other way is to borrow from the future," he writes, "by selling bonds and treasury bills. The lenders are you, me and any country or bank that is willing to buy up the bonds. The downside is that the bonds must be paid back with interest."
HELP WANTED
- "We recently moved from Nova Scotia to Ontario in a rented cube van," writes Liane Tanguay of Ottawa. "The company lent us a trailer on which to tow our car for free as part of a 'green' promotional event. My question: Given that we are hauling the same weight over the same distance, how 'green' is it really? Granted, we're not filling two gas tanks, but are we not burning substantially more fuel in the truck simply by hauling the second vehicle behind us?"
- "What are blind persons' dreams like?" asks Barry Staddon of Gabriola Island, B.C. "I assume they're not visual."
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