Czechia · 7:07pm Apr 18th, 2018
Just a short travelogue from me today. I spent the last week in Czechia. What took me here is a story that goes back to an encounter on a beach in Portugal, over ten years ago, with a Danish science demonstration group. They were doing lots of wacky stuff with plenty of fireworks, liquid nitrogen, and explosions. I was seriously impressed by their ability to engage young children. They had a crowd of Portuguese kids around their stall, who didn’t understand the English commentary, but they followed every flash and bang and scoured the beach for more plastic drinks bottles to blow up. At the time I wasn’t doing any science outreach myself, but I was sufficiently impressed that I signed up to their mailing list.
So as I now find myself doing more and more public engagement stuff myself, when I heard the network was holding a workshop in Ostrava, Czechia, I decided to go along. I was also curious to visit Prague, a city I have never been to, but of which I have received many favourable reports. When backpacking around other European cities I quite often met other travellers, who, over a beer/wine/coffee/schnapps would remark that while Budapest/Vienna/Krakow/Munich were indeed awesome, they weren’t quite as awe-inspiring as Prague. It is indeed a pretty cool city, combining the grandeur of a capital with a sort of small-town charm. Although it is full of tourists.
On the other side of the country, Ostrava gets no mention at all in any of the tourist guides. It’s a spread-out city, well-linked with an efficient tram network. Originally a heavy industry place, built around iron works and coal mines. The iron works are now a impressive industrial heritage site and science centre.
And the Show Science workshop was great. Unlike some of the more formal training courses I have done, which are about developing objectives, plans, and assessment strategies, this one was more along the lines of: Let’s blow lots of things up and show that science is fun.
That indeed looks pretty bomb diggety
When in doubt, blow things up to catch the public's attention.
And yes, Prague is a very cool city, even if it is tourist-ridden.
Ah, so it's Rainbow Dash Science.
And behold! In scenic Kansas, we have the Cosmosphere and Dr. Goddard's Lab, which I always try to see their exhibit at the Kansas State Fair. Lots of boom and poof.
Prague (and many parts of the rest of the country) are high on my want-to-visit list. Ostrava looks like a treasure trove of steampunk inspiration.