CHENNAI: Can you ace cricket by understanding physics better? How does the steam engine pull a huge train more than 10 times its weight? What exactly does ‘The law of conservation of energy’ mean?
These questions can be answered using a complex diagram complete with theory and equations explaining kinetic energy. Or, you can take a basketball, balance an egg on it, drop it from various heights and see for yourself how an increase in potential energy corresponds to an increase in kinetic energy. This kind of ‘practical knowledge’ is exactly what two of Australia’s foremost science communicators, Graham Walker and Stuart Kohlhagen want to spread across the world.
“When you bring science to life, it has a much greater impact on people — they get emotionally involved with the concepts and thus learn better. That’s the basic philosophy with which we approach science in particular and knowledge in general,” says Graham Walker.
The three one-hour ‘Science circus’ sessions were presented by the Australian High Commission, in partnership with the National Council for Science Museums and the Tamilnadu Science and Technology Centre. Attended by students from various schools, it was an exciting morning of vacuum cleaner bazookas throwing marshmallows into the audience and liquid nitrogen clouds transforming liquid into gas right in front of your eyes — where learning and grasping concepts that were only a string of incomprehensible words in our textbooks, was made possible.
“In most countries, what’s missing in teaching is tangible, real examples. We bring examples of how you can interact with science. It’s a way of learning some skills that traditional education can never imbibe, such as problem solving and critical thinking,” says Stuart. Graham and Stuart are eminent personalities in the science world, and feel that more than just being scientists, communicating science to the world is what matters. “I have a lot of respect for scientists who understand the importance of sharing details with everyone about what they’re doing, such as Michael Faraday — a great scientist and a great communicator.
He understood the importance of parting knowledge with the general population,” says Graham.
On a tight schedule to spread the joy of science in India, Stuart feels the young minds here are very receptive to science. “The students here in India are so different from in other countries. When we ask them, ‘how many of you are interested in science?’, there are lots of hands in the air! In Australia, most kids just laugh. It’s so enormously rewarding to see that the students here are so open to learning. They’re smart and really sharp...they just need more critical thinking. Then there will be no stopping them!” laughs Stuart.