BLOG.STUDIO-OFFICE

A retrospective look at the EAMES OFFICE'S famous "Powers of Ten" movie, which depicts the relative scale of the universe in factors of ten (logarithmic units). According to the Eames Office, "over ten million people have since seen the film." Holy schnaps! Also, the Eames Office has declared October 10 of each year "Powers of Ten Day," hooray! The day is devoted to promoting and sharing innovative methods of viewing ideas from an infinitesimal to a cosmic perspective.

According to WIKIPEDIA, there are some apparent errors in the film, For instance, what is shown as one square metre is actually somewhat more than that at times. When zooming out, the 10⁷ m rectangle fits snugly around the Earth, but the Earth should really be somewhat bigger (when zooming back in, it is shown correctly.)

The film is also limited to what was known at the time of its production: Quarks are mentioned merely as a question, even though the concept had been accepted by much of the scientific community for approximately a decade at the time.

The movie has also been referenced on the SIMPSONS, MEN IN BLACK, and MONTY PYTHON. Sylvia Lavin and Greg Lynn watch "Powers of Ten" each night before turning out the lights and playing with the ORGASMATRON.