Question: As we know, the magnifying glass in Olaf's tower started the Baudelaire fire. This is the same tool that Klaus uses to burn up the marriage certificate. If the magnifying glass was powerful enough to cause the Baudelaire mansion to burst into flames, which was 37 blocks away, why didn't the stage burst into flames as well?
AnthonyA
13th Sep 2007
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
26th Dec 2013
Unknown (2011)
Question: How does the former boss of Liam Neeson (Dr. Martin Harris) find the private detective the latter is using for help? He calls him and just shows up.
Chosen answer: He calls him because Liam Neeson told him to, because he still remembered him.
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Answer: A magnifying glass concentrates all the light that goes through it at its focal point, and it is this focal point that needs to be placed on the object which one wants to set on fire. The distance of the focal point to the lens depends on the magnifying glass characteristics, and it is more than likely that Count Olaf chose a glass where the focal point would be situated exactly "37 blocks" away from his house, that is, at the Baudelaire's mansion. When trying to set on fire an object much, much closer, the glass would concentrate much, much less energy, and would only be able to set on fire easily burnt objects, such as thin paper.
AnthonyA