The Strange Sensory Theater of a Total Solar Eclipse

A city responds without understanding what has happened. Photocells register the falling light, lamps switch on, illuminated signs brighten, and drivers begin using their headlights even though clocks still show midday. In residential neighborhoods, porch lights may join them. Office windows become more noticeable as the sky darkens around the buildings. None of these systems knows that the Moon has crossed the Sun; each is performing the same task it carries out every evening.