# Things that are much smaller than you always thought **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 28, 2018, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430 "2018-08-28T20:57:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/41 "2018-08-30T00:49:27Z")
Rockefeller Plaza. It’s not that big. It’s a lot smaller that Boston City Plaza. Sequoias. They’re really big, but they just don’t feel as massive as they look in pictures. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The Alamo we see today is just a single building that’s left from what was [a larger complex](https://s3.amazonaws.com/gs-geo-images/16d3f535-c08f-4eeb-8bdf-3aea5f6278cc_l.jpg) back at the time of the battle. > > What gets me about the Alamo is how you expect it to be out in the country. It’s actually right in [the middle of downtown San Antonio](https://i.imgur.com/G7RszHi.jpg), surrounded by office buildings that tower over it. Even back in 1836, it was a good-sized town. I love that about the Alamo. I grew up back East, and I expect historical sites to be little pockets tucked into odd spaces in the city. ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/42 "2018-08-30T01:10:23Z")
> [@robby](#): > > And thinking more macroscopically, I would say the [_Mona Lisa_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa). > > When I first saw it, I thought, “That’s it?” Of course, the painting was also likely overwhelmed by the crowd surrounding it, the security (and bulletproof glass), and the fact that you are required to view it from a distance. Probably the context, as you note. It’s in the typical range of portraits: the Mona Lisa is 77 cm by 53 cm. By way of comparison, [this here self portrait of Rembrandt](https://images.metmuseum.org/CRDImages/ep/original/DP152808.jpg) is a little taller, although it is wider - 80 cm by 67 cm. The Girl with the Pearl Earring (and most of Vermeer’s paintings) are much smaller. I’m curious - if someone would like to work it out: let’s say the barrier to view the Mona Lisa is 4 meters from the painting. How far would you have to be from the Girl with the Pearl Earring to have have it be the same apparent size? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/43 "2018-08-30T01:11:08Z")
My paycheck ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/44 "2018-08-30T03:36:06Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Civil War battlefields. I’ve only been to a few, but they were smaller than the campus of the local elementary school. A couple of them were the about the size of a football field. It’s hard to believe they could even set up two lines with enough land in the middle to fight over. In Murfreesboro, TN, is Stones River National Battlefield, a 570-acre park along the Stones River in Rutherford County, Tennessee, three miles northwest of Murfreesboro and twenty-eight miles southeast of Nashville, memorializes the Battle of Stones River. StG ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/45 "2018-08-30T03:47:13Z")
Stalin was only 5’5". Which seeing how he controlled 1/6 of earth at his peak, is kind of interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/46 "2018-08-30T04:21:50Z")
A B-29 bomber. Absolutely huge in WW2, but I saw one up close recently, and was surprised at how small it seemed compared to modern airliners. Surprisingly quiet, too - a ground crewman said that running the exhaust through the turbochargers acted like mufflers to deaden the noise. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/47 "2018-08-30T05:25:07Z")
> [@Hi\_Neighbor](#): > > [Jonathan Banks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Banks) who plays Mike on _Breaking Bad_ and _Better Call Saul_. He always has a big menacing presence on screen, but then I saw him in an old episode of Dexter, and everyone was towering over him. I went to look up how tall he was, and was surprised to see he is only 5’9". I thought for sure he was 6’+. > > But then again a lot of actors are shorter than they appear on screen, like Tom Cruise. Arnold Schwarzenegger is also of average height. This was driven home when he made an appearance on SNL, and was in between the heights of the actors who played Hans & Franz, one of whom was Dana Carvey (who, BTW, had a cameo in that Stonehenge movie 😉 ). ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/48 "2018-08-30T12:46:38Z")
The [Liberty Bell](https://www.google.com/search?q=liberty+bell&tbm=isch). I had always thought it was this giant, diving-bell-sized thing, that Quadimodo woulda been jumping up and down on a rope to ring. Nope - it’s more like something you would wiggle in your hand to announce that dinner is served. (Well, okay, maybe not quite that bad.) Quite disappointing in real life, at least to my inner 10-year-old. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/49 "2018-08-30T13:03:31Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > [Dealey Plaza](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dealey_Plaza), where the assassination of President Kennedy took place. I had seen it in countless photos and television news stories. When I first drove into it, I was shocked at how close together everything was. The distance from the 6th floor window to the car’s position, the distance between Zapruder and car, the proximity of the grassy knoll to everything else all surprised me. I had the opposite reaction. The distances immediately around the site of the assassination were much as I had expected, mainly because everyone always says that they are surprised by how close everything is. But the Plaza itself seemed bigger. My sense of its overall size had been distorted by the fact that so often only the northern half gets photographed. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/50 "2018-08-30T13:27:58Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > Stonehenge. It would fit in my yard with room to spare. [The obligatory Stonehenge bit from Spiñal Tap](https://youtu.be/Pyh1Va_mYWI) ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/51 "2018-08-30T13:40:13Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > In Murfreesboro, TN… And speaking of Murfreesboro, TN: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/jHGyJwyvM7Y/maxresdefault.jpg "John Mulaney Shares His Best Heckle Story") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHGyJwyvM7Y) \ ---
**Author:** ![PAjoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pajoe/32/58_2.png) [@PAjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PAjoe)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/52 "2018-08-30T13:43:03Z")
The Mercury space capsule. Not for the claustrophobic. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/53 "2018-08-30T13:53:33Z")
> [@PAjoe](#): > > The Mercury space capsule. Not for the claustrophobic. Similarly, I once took a tour on a submarine and it is TIGHT. It makes sense. In Space and on the ocean elbow room is a premium. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ecks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ecks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ecks)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/54 "2018-08-30T13:56:57Z")
Alcatraz In movies it looks like a big prison complex, and guys talk about having contacts in A-block and B-block, and the library and it seems like a maze of cells. When you visit, the whole prisoner area is about the size of a small warehouse, and A-block is about ten feet away from B- block, and the “Library” is basically a closet with books. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/55 "2018-08-30T14:15:23Z")
I was aboard a replica of “The Pinta”. It seemed tiny to me, with very little room for a crew of 26. > **[Pinta (ship)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinta_(ship))** > > La Pinta (Spanish for The Painted One, The Look, or The Spotted One) was the fastest of the three Spanish ships used by Christopher Columbus in his first transatlantic voyage in 1492. The New World was first sighted by Rodrigo de Triana aboard La Pinta on 12 October 1492. The owner of La Pinta was Cristóbal Quintero. The Quintero brothers were ship owners from Palos. The owner of the ship allowed Martín Alonso Pinzón to take over the ship so he could keep an eye on the ship. > La Pinta was a carav... ---
**Author:** ![Bin-Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@Bin-Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bin-Gay)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/56 "2018-08-30T15:07:13Z")
Delicate Arch in Arches National Park in Utah was much smaller than I expected. When seen in context to the landscape, it became obvious that it is appropriately named. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/57 "2018-08-30T15:16:20Z")
Hieronymus Bosch triptych paintings. Because of the amount of detail I always thought they were _very_ large, like wall-sized, but I saw the _Triptych of the Temptation of St. Anthony_ in Lisbon and while it was a big painting, [it wasn’t nearly as large as I expected](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/CNTNNY/triptych-of-temptation-of-st-anthony-by-hieronymus-bosch-jheronimus-CNTNNY.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/58 "2018-08-30T15:22:11Z")
The moon in the night sky. It seems like it should be huge, especially when it’s near the horizon. But you can hold a pencil at arm’s length and pretty much cover it. (I’ve won bar bets by claiming that it can be covered by a penny at arm’s length. People seem genuinely shocked when they find it is much smaller than a penny.) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/59 "2018-08-30T15:57:03Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > The moon in the night sky. It seems like it should be huge, especially when it’s near the horizon. But you can hold a pencil at arm’s length and pretty much cover it. (I’ve won bar bets by claiming that it can be covered by a penny at arm’s length. People seem genuinely shocked when they find it is much smaller than a penny.) > **[Moon illusion](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_illusion)** > > The Moon illusion is an optical illusion which causes the Moon to appear larger near the horizon than it does higher up in the sky. It has been known since ancient times and recorded by various cultures. The explanation of this illusion is still debated. > The angle that the diameter of the full Moon subtends at an observer's eye can be measured directly with a theodolite to show that it remains constant as the Moon rises or sinks in the sky. Photographs of the Moon at different elevations also ... ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/60 "2018-08-30T16:38:21Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > [Dealey Plaza](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dealey_Plaza), where the assassination of President Kennedy took place. I had seen it in countless photos and television news stories. When I first drove into it, I was shocked at how close together everything was. The distance from the 6th floor window to the car’s position, the distance between Zapruder and car, the proximity of the grassy knoll to everything else all surprised me. I have seen The Mona Lisa and the small size surprised me but Dealey Plaza is the one that REALLY surprised me. If you go there, all of the conspiracy theories of the Kennedy assassination instantly fall apart. Oswald could have hit Kennedy with a slingshot. The “Grassy Knoll” is just a slightly raised area on the other side a not very notable street. All of the landmarks that people reference are right there and not far apart at all like two houses on the opposite side of a typical suburban street. There is no way for anyone to hide. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430.md?page=4)