The Sydney Opera House Car Park and The Double Helix

The Sydney Opera House Car Park records the serendipitous design of the unique underground car park of the Sydney Opera House. This 1,100 car facility was built 20 years after the opening of the Opera House, during which period patrons had to walk significant distances from various parking places within the central business district.

Using the Opera House Car Park story as the starting point, the author sets out to discover when, and where, mankind first used the elegant shape of the double helix in architecture and engineering. This journey of discovery takes the reader through France, Italy, ancient Greece, Egypt, Afghanistan, and finally to the postulated first use in Babylonia. The author also documents, in an Appendix, many of the disparate uses of single and double helices, in ancient and modern pumps, screws, springs, and the Boomerang Propeller of Sir Thomas Mitchell.

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