The Invention That Saved a Million Ships | Fresnel Lens Lighthouse Tour
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ค. 2024
- In the 1800s, Fresnel lenses transformed lighthouses around the world. After that, they started showing up in everything from headlights... to spacecraft. To learn their story, I spent the day with the lighthouse keeper at Big Bay Point Lighthouse on Michigan's Lake Superior - and learned some pretty incredible things.
A special thanks goes to Nick Korstad for his help with this video. Thanks for being a gem and spending an afternoon with me, Nick!
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💡 Want to visit Big Bay Point Lighthouse? Here's their website (transparency note: this video is not sponsored; I just love this place): bigbaylighthouse.com/
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For more information on Big Bay Point Lighthouse, Fresnel lenses, NASA's Deep Space 1 mission, and more, here are some of my key (non-Nick) sources for this video:
www.nps.gov/articles/fresnel-...
www.ponceinlet.org/Understand...
climate.nasa.gov/news/991/gen...
uslhs.org/sites/default/files...
uslhs.org/reflector-chandeliers
www.lighthousefriends.com/lig...
pointsur.org/documents/Fresnel...
Image references:
Lewis lantern: uslhs.org/reflector-chandeliers
Fresnel lens: www.ponceinlet.org/Understand...
#greatlakes #lighthouse
Love your presentations, especially those based on locations in the UP. You seem to have reversed the locations of Granite Island and the Huron Islands. I have kayaked out to the Huron Islands a couple times, but Granite Island is still on my list.
Thanks, Henry! Also, shoot! I double-checked that, too, and still managed to swap them. Thanks for letting me know!
Good eye Henry!
That extra content would be great to see on the channel. Thank you so much for making great content!
Cool! Thanks for the feedback, Kyle. I'm excited that people are interested in learning more here. Thanks for enjoying this! :)
Fresnel lenses were used for the overhead projectors that were common in schools and businesses. The flat backside of the lens was the glass surface that you put the transparency on. The lens allowed for a more compact projector as it does the size of the lighthouse beacon.
Well I learned I have been mispronouncing Fresnel my whole life. I used to celebrate the end of every school year by taking my Fresnel lenses and lighting my homework on fire. The extra content sounds great! I'm really glad you covered not just the lighthouse but also Nick and his connection to it.
If it helps, "Frey-nell" seems to also be an okay pronunciation! (I also pronounced "Fresnel" like it looks in English for the longest time, so... I'm glad Nick knew more than I do when we chatted.) And that is a solid way to end a school year, ha ha.
Regardless, I'm glad you enjoyed the video! Getting to highlight Nick was one of my favorite parts. Something I've really enjoyed about doing interviews every now and again is getting to chat with people who are really passionate about what the do, and Nick is such a great example of that.
The name is French hence the silent "s" I guess.
I've been to Split Rock Lighthouse on the _other_ side of Lake Superior in Minnesota. That has its original 3rd-order lens too, _and_ it's still in place at the top. Though it's also newer (built 1910) and a different shape, with bullseyes on either side.
Apparently Split Rock was built to take a 2nd-order lens back in the day, but construction went over budget. 🙂
Whoa, awesome! I've seen so many great photos of Split Rock that I'll absolutely have to visit when I make it to the north shore someday. Thanks for the background on it!
I once had a job working for a Historical Society and had to twice move this type of Lens around. One was a second order Fresnel & the other a third order. What is surprising is how heavy , yet delicate and fragile they are. It was VERY nerve-racking..!
Even though we live in the deep South, we visited and fell in love with the U.P. some years ago and adopted it. We've since made many trips and each one has been better than the last. Your videos have deepened our appreciation for the places we've been a d we want to thank you for the time and energy you put into each one.
Hopefully, we'll be spending much more time there soon as we prepare to retire Thanks again!
Pyramids, Sphinx, along with the "Library of Alexandria" and the "Lighthouse of Alexandria", are probably the things I think of most when I think of Ancient Egypt.
By all means plan to stay in the lighthouse. My husband and I did so a few years ago and enjoyed a wonderful experience. Nick was an amazing host and so knowledgeable. He truly loves his calling. We hope to do it again
This video is probably my favorite of the ones you've done, Alexis. Yes, Yes! More about the Light Keepers and what they did, how they were able to do it, the maintenance schedules, how one became a lightkeeper, etc. I promise I am just as enthralled as Nick about these things. You could never bore me with this lore--I totally LOVE it!!! --Jeanne from Kalkaska
My little Caribbean island has a lighthouse from Chance Bros. Chance Bros. actually had a catalog of lighthouses, as they were supplying them to Brit colonies all over the world. Our lighthouse is exactly like the famous Bermuda Lighthouse but about 2/3 the size (since we were a smaller island, i guess). Made of cast iron plates bolted together, it was shipped to us in 1852 in pieces from England with a glorious Fresnel lens that stood about 4 feet tall. The lens itself is constructed of about 80 separate crystal prisms in a cast bronze frame. Over the years it was lit first with Argand lamps (which usually burned whale oil), then kerosene, and was finally electrified in the 1970's. The lens itself rotated (not the light inside) using a clockwork mechanism and floated in a pan of mercury.
This was really nifty. :-) Thank you. I wish more people who were in charge of our infrastructure and institutions felt more like Nick did.
There's a beautiful 2nd order fresnel lens on display at the shipwreck museum at Whitefish Point. Speaking of interesting lightkeeper stories, during WWII there was a German plot to disable the Whitefish Point light to disrupt America's steel supply chain, but the plans were discovered and foiled by the keeper.
Whoa, fascinating! I hadn't heard that WWII story yet, but I'll have to look into it. Thanks for sharing!
Great video Alexis. Fresnel lenses are definitely works of art.
Thanks, Andrew! I appreciate it.
Thank you Alexis and your husband for these wonderful pieces of video journalism.
That was a fascinating, informative, and inspiring video! Thanks a lot!
On a related note: I live on a 25th floor and, apparently, my windows face a trajectory that airplanes take on their way to land in my city's airport, because I can see their landing lights shine very brightly from at least 20 km! Your video got me thinking that maybe they use Fresnel lenses for that too. But my quick research says no, it's just very bright LEDs these days. Which makes sense - they don't need their landing lights to be very concentrated in one spot.
But! I found that Fresnel lenses are used on aircraft carriers! It's called an "optical landing system", very cool and clever tech 🙂
Shucks, thank you! Thanks for saying so!
Also, I can't tell if that's a very fun place to live or kind of an annoying one, ha ha. (It sounds fun!) But you're right: That totally makes sense that airports would use LEDs for that sort of thing.
Yes! I love the optical landing system. At one point, I showed a picture on-screen of one in this video but ended up pulling it (for a long and boring reason, ha). But I agree - super cool!
@@AlexisDahl Just to be clear, I didn't mean the lights on the ground at the airport, I meant the (head)lights that airplanes turn on while getting ready for the landing. I thought they are doing it just before approaching a landing strip, but research says no: "Pilots are encouraged to turn on their landing lights when operating within 10 miles of an airport and below 10,000 feet".
From my window they look like very bright dots in the sky, which I first mistook for paper lanterns (or UFOs in general 😅 ), but observing their trajectory and comparing it with the data on flightradar24.com solved that mystery for me 🙂 .
They are not annoying, the occasional strong winds and long elevator waits are more so 🙂
I'm curious how the light from this lighthouse looked like to the residents that complained about it. Probs super bright!
This is an underrated channel ! Glad I stumbled onto!
Another awesome video. Thanks for your hard work!
Thank YOU! I might've said this before, but genuinely, it's all so much more fun when other people come along for the ride.
There's something sort of symbolic about just one person giving a part of their life to keep a light going for the greater good of others.
Yes please for extra content about the lighthouse and all your videos!! 😊
There is one at Old Fort Niagara from its lighthouse (which closed in 1993). An Eagle Scout candidate actually made cleaning and preserving it his Eagle Scout Project.
The lens sits in the back foyer so any guests have to walk past it as it is the only door they can exit through.
Just looked it up so updating, it is a fourth order lens that originally sat on the French Castle (built 1726 by the French, lighthouse tower added 1771 by the British, and the lense purchased 1857. Moved to the new tower 1872 and retired 1993. Restored 1995).
OKAY! Love Fresnel lenses! But when he said it has a 64 mile range I had to do some math... VERY rough math would suggest that at 64 miles out the earth is curving away to the tune of like 2500 feet!!!
Edit: I would also love the extra content 🙂
Oh, man! I didn't think about that aspect of it - but dang! That is so impressive. Thanks for running the numbers!
@@AlexisDahl that just seems so crazy to think it can just blast photons that far out.
Also ever since I learned about them I've wanted to see a first order Fresnel. Should be something
Right? That kind of distance isn't what I'd usually associate with something like a bunch of glass prisms. (Also, that sounds like it'd be so fun! The third-order already seemed huge... and I think first-order lens have a full extra meter of height, or something wild like that!)
I would love to see a video of being up there during a storm. And see some of the extreme temperature and wind data if he collects anything like that.
Please look at some of your rail road switch lights and you'll see the same! Great video Alexis!
This was so cool! Loved learning about this and now I have a new place to add to my travel list 😀
Yes please more on this! Would love to see extended information!
Aw, thanks, Hannah! I'm so glad you enjoyed it - and I hope you get to make it to the lighthouse sometime, too!
If you ever get to New England (if you do call me and I will be your guide) Maine has several lighthouses and a Lighthouse weekend. There is a Lighthouse Museum on Main Street in Rockport, Me. It has a panel of the original prototype Fresnel lens. It also has beacon lenses from 6" to over 6' high.
Note: Most lenses had "bullseye" sections around the perimeter that defined separate beams of light. As the entire lens was rotating around a fixed light source, whale oil in the first lights then kerosene, separate flashes would be visible to the mariners. The timing of these flashes identified the lighthouse. That information is on the coastal navigation charts.
Great video! Thank you. There are 129 lighthouses in Michigan which has the second longest coast of any state and is only beaten by Alaska.
I'd be interested in the extra content, to be honest.
Thanks for saying so! That's really helpful for me.
@@AlexisDahl and another vote for that extended cut please. I visited a lighthouse on the Isle of Wight about 15 years ago, but I learned more about the lenses from this video than I did on that visit.
And another vote for the extra content! (The posted video is just fascinating! Lighthouse keepers seem to be the fore-bearers of radio pioneers. High towers and lonely occupation ... all to keep others safe and informed.)
Absolutely excellent. Please add another presentation in more detail. And if you ever get to Maryland go see the lighthouses on the Chesapeake Bay.
Thanks, Jim! And thanks for the recommendation, too! I spent a summer in DC a few years ago but haven't had a proper chance to go back since then. When I make it out there, I'll make sure to add a few lighthouses to the trip itinerary!
My multi-focal IOLs are also very small Fresnel lenses. I take them everywhere I go...
I'm riding my bike down the Greenway from Maine to Key West. About 3000 miles. Been seeing them and reading about them all down the coast. Be in Savannah in a few days .. Great content.. Gonna watch the bacon rock vid again, because I'm a breakfast kinda guy 😋
Oh, my gosh! That's incredible. Safe travels, and happy trails (roads?) to you! If I can ask, what prompted the trip?
Also, ha ha, enjoy the bacon rock! I hope it's just as fun to learn about on round two.
I just recently found your channel. Love your stories. I'm from Michigan and usually spend my summers traveling around Michigan on my bike looking for interesting stuff. My father-in-law grew up in Big Bay. He often talked about this lighthouse. He had friends that lived there and used to spend the night there all the time in the 1930s. He always talked about it.
Another nice video, thanks. Big Bay LH reminds me of the 40 Mile Point LH north of Rogers City in the LP.
That dude is awesome....thank you for sharing...
With the Fresnel Lenses, you can do the opposite as well. They are being considered for use as large, light weight optical telescope lenses.
On your map at 3:06, the Huron Islands are actually the ones to the west of Big Bay and Granite Island is the one to the southeast. When I lived in Marquette a long time ago, we could see Granite Island from Presque Isle Park. Still a great video though!
Thanks for trip.
if you look online you can buy inexpensive Fresnel lenses to play with and learn from. There are flat plastic versions or much more expensive small glass/plastic lenses of various sizes. Great teaching toys as well!
This was awesome! Thank you so much for sharing. 😀
My pleasure! Thanks for being here!
Loved this one, no surprise there! I would also love to see an expanded video on the subject as well.
Thanks so much! And duly noted! :)
Saw the walk thru first, but this was super interesting!
Awesome information! Thank you, you are a wonderful storyteller/teacher. ❤
My understanding is that Scottish scientists David Bruster actually invented the lens formula but Farnell is the one to do something with it.
Thank you for this opportunity to see one of a kind. Simply Amazing.
Your smile is infectious!
Fresnel recognized early on that he was not going to live long enough to see old age and determined to benefit mankind in what few years he had. He died at the age of 39, but it is certain that his invention saved or protected millions.
I went searching for lenses today, I did order a Magnifying glass from Amazon
Thank you both. Very interesting.
Can I recommend a book to you called, Sky Pilot of the Great Lakes. It is a biography of Reverend William Law, who ministered to light house keepers, their families, and the crews at life saving stations along the Great Lakes. It isn't just about his ministry, though. There is a lot of history, and information about what was the predecessor agency of the U.S. Coast Guard.
Oh, man, this is such a good recommendation! Thank you! I'll absolutely be checking if my library (or can get one) has a copy the next time I stop by.
extended cut yes, need more!
So fernel sens old timey laser?
😎! Fascinating history , learned a lot from this video!!
Wonderful video!
So enjoyed your video! I love lighthouses, visit them often, and include them in my novels. I'll add a link to your video on my website. Many thanks! Mara Purl, author.
Nice work
Nick is so cool
We got to stay in the B&B there. I highly recommend it.
I'm hoping Alexis asks me to come along on that "bucket list " stay.... 😍😂😉
Love lighthouses, have three lighthouses pages LIKEd on Facebook.
I represent the lighthouse gang and we want more cool lighthouse videos.
do one on the lighthouse ship drydocked in port Huron.
Another great video Alexa love the t-shirt
the hairstyle in this video is doing it for me ! 😍😇😉
Great Vid ! How about regaling the US Lifesaving Service which was wed to the US Lighthouse Service which was again wed to the US Revenue Cutter Service to create the US Coast Guard? Some little known history!
Do a video about copper peak in ironwood
28 miles! Wow, that's impressive! Thanks for all the information Alexis! Great interview too! My area (Puget Sound, WA) is loaded with lighthouses! Cool to know exactly how they work now
Right? Especially with something as basic as a kerosene lamp! Also, that part of Washington sounds like such a great place to visit lighthouses. I bet a bunch of them still have Fresnel lenses!
I think you're probably right! I guess I'm going to have to go see for myself, have one 25 mins away and its accessible!
Awesome! If you make it out there, I hope you have a fun trip!
@@AlexisDahl Thank you, will have to put it on youtube I suppose :)
Give me a shout if you do! I'd be curious to see what Fresnel lenses look like on a different kind of coast.
I wonder if the house his light shines in could get their own F* lens in or to magnify and reflect the light right back at the F* lens in the light house which will bend snd magnify it even more so it make the lighthouse all melty and charbroiled .
I’m late to the party, and have enjoyed a few videos, but this one convinced me to subscribe. Thank you for doing what you do.
This is beyond cool....I still think these should have folks in them....they are so gorgeous!
Aren't the lenses awesome? I also wish there were more staffed lighthouses around the UP! I completely understand why they aren't staffed, but getting to tour and learn about these places is the the coolest thing.
@@AlexisDahl I have an email buddy that's retired from Isle Royale. They have one of these on display...it's "On loan" from the Coast Guard. They built three walls, put the lens in, then built the fourth wall. He said he's "Not sure how they'll get it out"...lol...
@@LadyYoop Ha ha, oh, gosh, that's hilarious. And really fascinating! Thanks for sharing! I mean, that is definitely one way to install one of those things!
@@AlexisDahl AMEN to that!
Spent two nights in this lighthouse with the previous owners in their B&B.
You are a beacon of hope and a role model for your generation.
Ha! I viewed your extended take video *first*!!
Theater guy me is happy to know that the magnificent Fresnel is getting its due and getting its true history spread far and wide. I love your content. Make more :)
Beautiful
I spy the Houghton bridge behind you!
Ha ha, yes! I had some time to kill in Houghton back when the weather was a bit warmer so did some painting by the canal! :)
You did a beautiful job, our little gateway to home❤️
I would love you to make a video of the extra content!
Thanks, JD! That's so encouraging to hear. Appreciate you saying so!
Why haven't we used this for solar-powered thermal sodium stations?
I thought each light house had an individual or unque flash or light. Kind of like Morse code so a ship wouold understand where they were if they were lost or needed to make sure of their location? I believe this was true along the Carolinas to help fight piracy. So pirates would not set up a fake light and the ship would run a ground and the pirates loot the ship from the shore.
Very interesting, but I'm curious... is that link on the horse?
Ha ha, it is! 🙂 It's a Breath of the Wild-themed painted I've been... well, putting off finishing, honestly. But someday!
@Alexis Dahl no dungeons and no appearance of Epona were the only down sides of that game.... just remember it took Leonardo years to finish the Mona Lisa(:
You're amazing! You really do important work for Michigan and wish you could move down a little more into Ohio. After all, we are so much more interesting:-) I saw a comment on DC. Turning you loose in the National Gallery of Art would be a blast. Maybe a comparison of the greatest art work housed there. My favorite is Portrait of Ginevra Benci by de Vinci. I remember the first time I saw it; in a lobby near the shopping court guarded on either side. At first sight I thought it wasn't a beautiful picture. After an hour my wife said it was time to go but I decided to stay longer while she went shopping. There was something so compelling that I wanted to stay longer and longer. I just wanted to know what was so compelling and why I couldn't understand or describe it. I have never forgotten it and I've been back many times to see it again and again. I would love to see your reaction to some of their great works of art and sculpture. I'm sure you would find your own favorite as well.....and we would all enjoy learning about it.
Is that technology used in solar panels ? Seems it should be.
Why? I think you're misunderstanding the concept... That's like saying instead of a light house you should just have a plain light on shore and then put the lens on each ship. Now if you could put a fresnel lens on the sun and aim that at earth.... That's the concept.
No video on this utube only audio?
I would try reloading the page! There is definitely video. 🙂
@@AlexisDahl love your videos! I did finally get the video. Very interesting I will watch more of them. I sent the Sudbury Rock video to my Texas geologist brother in law….he did not know that rocks were found in the U.P. His mother was from Calumet.
Went to college, graduated, went to work, moved his way up, then at 24…. Wait a second… most people graduate at ~22. Then go to work at 22.5. Work from 22.5 thru 23 and finally after climbing the corporate ladder follows his post retirement second career dream job at 24 to ~24.998.
If dude would of stuck it out in the corporate world just 5 more years he probably would of been the CEO/President/Owner of the single global hotel chain left after his hotel chain buys every other hotel.
Then he could buy up ALL THE LIGHTHOUSES!!!
Almost same house design as Forty Mile Lighthouse.
I'm guessing he doesn't have a foghorn
Rich boy successful against all odds....
We can still replicate them, unfortunately those who have done the work recreating prisms in America such as John Wood are part of an immensely profitable and niche industry mostly serving museum restorations and do not wish to share information with anyone because they enjoy their ability to write their own checks. I have been involved with the restorations of several fresnel lenses and burners including ones in service in the lighthouses of the Bahamas, and attempting to get any information out of these people was like pulling teeth. Those in Britain in the Admiralty and Trinity House are more willing to share.
Your pronunciation of Fresnel, "Fernel."
I find it fascinating and correct.
What say you? Fernel 60. Isaiah 60
64 miles? Hmmm…. Flat earth anyone?
Technology doesn't only dumb you down it makes you lazy I forget who said that