h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

There's an excellent entry by Tony2Times that I'd forgot existed: A5907332 You can link to it in your entry!

I think there's a lot of potential in this entry, but it needs to be a little more meaty & restructured.

Wouldn't the first walls have been protection against the elements, rather than against enemies?

I'd suggest amplifying the types of construction & materials as well as more about well-known walls.

There's probably a lot more you could put in about walls in language, art & literature. I'll come back with some specific suggestions if I can.

Surely the first walls used were ready-made ones - caves used to shelter in from the elements?

I don't think so. The walls defined in my article are ones made by humans for the reason of protection of something, inside or out. Cave walls were formed by nature, and my philosophy is that nature didn't do it on purpose.

I won't be editing the Walls article for a while, but I'll get to it soon.

I think you do need to mention the most common wall of all...the one that is holding the roof above your head! It is probably the earliest example of a wall in the world, when stone age man went out of his cave on hunting epeditions he probably made tents out of skins to stop himself being exposed to the elements (and elephants). His mand-made tent walls holding would have been the earliest man made walls.

This has great potential Think-Am, don't let it go to waste! (or don't let the walls come crashing down...)

OK I've done basically everything I'm going to do right now. Any other suggestions?

Hadrian's Wall?

Plus - Dry stone walls - still used and constructed today to contain livestock in certain areas of the UK

I'm building a wall at the moment, out of stone, and it's a b*****r. Bricks would've been much easier.

Anyhoo, how about mentioning that fact that a wall in a vehicle such as a ship or plane is called a bulkhead.

This is a personal thing, but the "can be seen from space" cliche makes me cringe. Space is only 100km up; you can see loads of things from there. You can even read car number plates if you believe Jack Bauer .

The part about building brick walls is somewhat inaccurate. I would dispute that they are the easiest type! There are many styles of bond, but the overlapping edges are for overall strength, not quite as described.

Modern walls are not always strong enough to withstand the elements - strength isn't necessarily the key.

Sorry, I think this still needs quite a bit of work. When I have a little more time I'll try to make some more suggestions.

I'd suggest combining types of wall & consrruction techniques, as one is often dependent on the other. Then you could break it down & amplify for a variety of materials & purposes.

There's more you could include about abstract walls e.g. in sport, sayings.

What about some other famous walls, decorations on walls, walls that don't enclose an area?

Ah yes, the famous 'wall' of long distance running fame. The idea that you'd run into anything is bad enough, but a wall just isn't ideal .

I don't know if you're still interested in suggestions (and that is all they are), but you might include 'walls' that meet your definition such as those of dikes, dams, and levees. Seawalls are often made of bagged sand and dirt. Things like these.

Your entry, your choice. Good luck!

Other wall building that occurs would include adobe (mud mixed with straw), and the limestone, granite, and marble walls used in large constructions of the past. (Did you mention pyramids?)

Technically, trenches dug in combat are walls. They provide a soldier an earthen barrier to hide behind.

Mainly, though, the Great Wall of China cannot be seen from outer space. This is a myth that just won't die.

There are many reasons why you cannot see it from outer space.

I'm not going to go into all of them, unless anyone is interested, but the only mention this myth should get is that it is not true.

Also, it (great wall) was as much a road as a wall, so parts of the Inca highway could count, as they were built up walls, basically.

...oh, something else.
Don't recall if this was mentioned, but breakwaters and man-made harbors use walls into bodies of water.

Keep it up!

Maybe if you were in space and used a really strong telescope....?

Yes you can.

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/visible_from_space_031006.html

Although I liked the fact that parts of it aren't even visible from China.

*sigh*Yes, okay, with a telescope, you can see just about anything.

The basic premise of the myth is that you can make out the great wall of China with the naked eye.

This myth has been going around earth longer than satellites have; it wasn't even provable when it originated.

With the naked eye, the wall of China is not visible from space.

To say nothing of outer space, which is the area of the universe beyond the orbit of Mars. From that distance, you can barely see Earth.

OK, not wishing to labout a point, but it seems we are arguing definitions and trying to disprove negatives. At least one US astronaut claims to have seen it from low earth orbit (300km ish), with his eyes.

http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Proba_web_site/SEMTTHGHZTD_0.html

Reports from others seem to conclude it is possible in theory but it's difficult to pick out amid the surrounding roads and valleys. At 100km (the accepted edge of space, notwithstanding the "outer" part) it *should* be visible, whether anyone has actually seen it from there or not.