The Monument in London was Hooke's Telescope

[Montero]

The Secret Lab Hidden Inside a Famous Monument

The Monument is one of London’s most famous landmarks, even giving its name to a local Tube stop. But this tribute to London’s greatest fire also has a secret second use – as a giant piece of scientific equipment.

getpocket.com

 

[Venusian Broon]

The monument sits in an "odd place" today. Although photographs attempt to make it stand out, I always felt it was engulfed by the buildings around it so it does feel hidden and 'secret'. No doubt in the past it would have stood out more, towering over buildings, and very near to another huge wonder, St Pauls. But today office blocks look over it.

Cleopatra's Needle, for exmaple, is helped by being placed next to the river. (However, of course, the postion of the monument can't be changed, so it's stuck where it is! )

Also, as an aside Monument tube station was one of the most sprawling stations to traverse - you get a bit of a cardio getting from one platform to another.

 

[Montero]

Yes, I went to see the Monument many years back and it is rather engulfed.

I did a search for pictures of it historically and that is quite interesting in terms of how the area has frequently changed.

historic pictures of London Fire Monument - Google Search

 

[.matthew.]

Ha, I just read that a few minutes ago. Pocket suggestions can be a bit of a time sink,

My favourite bit of it was learning that Newton burned the guy's portraits. Science has always had such saltiness

 

[Montero]

Yeah, some of the exchanges of historic letters, either in person or via journals can be extremely "brisk".
There are the paintings of dignified men in big wigs, who clearly had total hissy fits and regularly threw their teddy bear out the pram.