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

Just out of curiousity-does anyone know what the seven wonders of the ancient world are? Are there even seven? Hmmm.

Try these:

1) The Coliseum of Rome
2) The Catacombs of Alexandria
3) The Great Wall of China
4) Stonehenge
5) The Leaning Tower of Pisa
6) The Porcelain Tower of Nanking
7) The Hagia Sophia in Constantinople

Stonhenge, the great wall of China and the leaning tower of pisa were unknown to the "anicient world".

I can add:
- The great pyramids
- The hanging gardens of Babylon
- The lighthouse at Alexandria

But as an interesting [you be the judge of that ] aside - what are the seven wonders of the modern world? I unilaterally impose the rule that they must be man-made.

Sure they would have been unknown to the ancient world if they were the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, which they weren't. The list I gave was from the Middle Ages. An alternate list of Seven Wonders of Antiquity are as follows:

The Pyramids first, which in Egypt were laid;
Then Babylon's Garden for Amytis made;
Third, Mansolus's Tomb of affection and guilt;
Fourth, the Temple of Dian, in Ephesus built;
Fifth, Colossos of Rhodes, cast in brass, to th sun;
Sixth, Jupiter's Statue, by Phidias done;
The Pharos of Egypt, last wonder of old,
Or the Palace of Cyrus, cemented with gold.

E.C.B.

I stand corrected.

Sit down, this is going to be a long thread.
Wonders of modern world?
The Hong Kong escalator(s)
The Humber bridge
The London Eye (goes off for a cup of coffee).......

Whilst they are quite common, I still can't watch a 747 take off without being filled with awe. They're just astonishing things...

I thought the Sphynx was one.

So I would have agreed, had I not been to the Airport with Dad this past summer and feasted my eyes on a 757.

'Nonnie

The greatest wonder of the modern world is one that has yet to be built, but one I would dearly love to witness. That is the monument erected to celebrate achieved World Peace.

'Nonnie

And bloody annoying when the winds the wrong way and your under the flight path.

*** Hit return too soon***

But I still prefer the paper dart (Concorde)even if it is the noisiest civil aircraft ever built.

I think subjectivity is one of the determining factors.

Yes, so which subjects are you proposing for this list? We haven't even got to seven yet.

Buildings:
- Petronas Towers*
- That big globe thing in Shanghai
- Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank
- Eifel Tower
- The pyramids
- Sphynx
- Aswan Dam

Transport:
- Boeing 747
- Any v.large oil tanker
- The cross channel hovercraft*
- Landrover (the original ones, not a discovery)
- The Pepsi Max rollercoaster (in Blackpool,UK)
- The D-Type Jaguar
- The bullet train*

(* I haven't seen these in the flesh, so my opinion is based on the telly)

What think ye?

When did you see the Aswan Dam? I think it fails because of silting and general ecological disturbance but I agree it's rather impressive to look at.
Sydney Opera House?

I missed the * on thje aswan dam and D-Type Jaguar .

Not sure about the Sydney Opera house - it's nice, but then so are the Sydney harbour bridge and the pompidou centre etc.

As a few of them don't exist anymore, maybe we should now have 2 lists -

The seven ancient wonders of the world
The seven modern wonders of the world

Then in the year 3000 they can make the lists up as:
The seven very ancient ....
The seven ancient ..
The seven near ancient ....

Then in the year 4000 they can ......

....for the seven that are "out of this world" which is where the one I've been waiting to add goes -
The Hubble Telescope

Don't forget MIR. After a crash, a fire and who knows how many other mishaps it's still up there. And I heard a rumour that someone is trying to make it a tourist resort...