Whispering Gallery



What is a whispering gallery?

Throughout the world there are many interesting locations that people gaze at in wonder and suggest that others visit. One of these fascinating attractions can be found in numerous places around the world. These locations are called whispering galleries, while inside one of the many enclosures you can whisper in a crowded room to a friend…yards away from you.

The construction of these galleries is often not intended for the purpose of whispering to a friend, however many enclosures secret delivery talents are found later after construction is completed. The real secret to a whispering gallery is the elliptical cross-sections created by beams used in the architecture. These cross-sections allow sound to focus at a certain point and travel in a way that allows them to converge at the other focus. This can be demonstrated by one person standing and whispering at one focus and the other friend at the second. However, the message can only be delivered if the section of the ceiling connecting the two foci is not blocked by ceiling fixtures.

If you happen to live near New York or plan to visit a whispering gallery can be part of your plans for the day. This gallery (one of many) can be found at Grand Central Terminal in front of the Oyster Bar and Restaurant. You may have to observe a set of friends seemingly talking to themselves to find the gallery but it is well worth our time. The gallery is not widely known but there are a few stories found on a New York travel site, “The arches were designed by a father and son team, Rafael Guastavino and Rafael Guastavino Jr. Their work has become a signature style for the city, found in hundreds of places, such as in the Great Hall at Ellis Island, the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, St. Paul’s Chapel at Columbia University.” And “It’s also a popular scene for marriage proposals. "I see them all the time," said Mary Sitter, a hostess at the Oyster Bar. "There’s a lot at Valentine’s Day."

Sitter, who grew up in Queens, is also a good gauge of how few people know the secret of the arches. Until she started working at the Oyster Bar, she knew nothing of the whispering arches. "I’m a New Yorker and I hadn’t ever heard of this."



Images

Here is one picture of how an echo will travel in a typical sperical auditorium. This image shows that the sound travels and bounces off at certain points in the auditorium. To the right is an image of the whispering gallery found at the Oyster Bar. When two people speak into the corners of the room, the sound then travels in a ark going above them, accross the ceiling and to the oppisite corner.

Intrigued by the art of a whispering gallery? Check out the list below, you might find time to share a secret in China, Washington DC, Spain and of course New York City.


The Treasury of Atreus, Greece

Secret's Chamber in El Escorial in Madrid, Spain.

The Wispering Gallery in Alhambra in Granada, Spain.

Cleopatra's Bath in the Siwa Oasis, Egypt

Monument to the Negev Brigade in Beersheba, Israel.

St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City

Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, Turkey

Leaning Tower of Nevyansk in Sverdlovsk oblast

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem

Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence Cathedral, in Florence, Italy

Basilica of St. John Lateran, in Rome, Italy.

Masjed-e Imam in Esfahan, Iran

The Gol Gumbaz in Bijapur, Karnataka State, India.

The Fazer cafeteria in Helsinki.

The Echo Wall in the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China

Cathedral of Brasília in Brazil Martello towers

Annotated Bibliography

  • Title: Wikipedia Whispering Gallery, No author listed, publisher unknown, Last Access Date: October 23, 2011 Wikipedia (Click to visit webpage)


    • This website had a summary of how the galleries worked and where the galleries could be found around the US , United Kingdom and around the world. This was the only resource I could find with as substantial list of locations for the galleries. I found it particularly useful for this reason but I would not use it for specific information on the logistics of a whispering gallery. I would not use this for specific research purposes because Wikipedia is a publicly edited site that anyone can add, even if they are not a credited source.

  • Title: New Yorkology , No author listed, publisher unknown, Last Access Date: October 23, 2011 New Yorkology (Click to Visit Webpage)


    • This website was helpful to me because I was able to find a modern day whispering gallery that anyone can visit. I stumbled upon the information presented on this particular page on the website by a common internet search. The internet site specific purpose is “A New York Travel Guide”, it has various tourist attractions listed as well as transportation and food listings. It was useful to me in the reason listed above; I was able to use this information to provide a story of a modern day gallery. This was a source that I would only use for entertainment purposes, not scientific research. I was able to find that a historian that gives tours of Grand Central Station was listed on this site and used as a resource.

  • Title: Photos of Grand Central Terminal, Author: Heather Cross About.com Guide, Publisher Listed: About.com, Last Access Date: October 27, 2011 About.com (Click to view webpage)


    • This website is a website that has a lot of public forum involved, people answer questions and the public answers them. For the purposes of this project I used this website for the image of the whispering gallery on my webpage. I find that this is a good (and reliable) place to look for images because many people show their pictures in a prideful way, thus making the images a showcase of where they have been. I would use this source again to find images for a project.

  • Book Author: Floyd Rowe Watson Title: Acoustics of Buildings City of Publication: London Publisher: Chapman and Hall Year: 1923 Call Number at Coe Library University of Wyoming: NA2800


    • The book listed above is a book about the acoustics of more than just a building, it includes auditoriums, sound proof rooms and what materials work best in each situation. The book was very useful for understanding the sound behaviors in many different situations, it provided me a foundation for the knowledge presented in the information above. I was able to use the image found on page 74 of the book for the performance and path of sound in an auditorium. I found this book very credible because it had been used a resource for more that 90 years for many people. I also liked this book because it has many diagrams that were very helpful and vivid.

    This page was created by Megan Anna Weisshaar on 10/28/11 last updated at 1:45 pm, when using the information presented on this page please use the citations above as well as my information listed.