For most of us, science is a huge leap of faith
The Science Museum’s Wonderlab gallery is billed as being for children, but on a recent visit, I saw little that was not also interesting to adults. There were two long cables being spun by small motors on each end, whose speed could be adjusted with dials. As the speed changed, they formed dizzying, fascinating undulations of different widths and shapes.
Nearby, you could drop a ball into a “double gravity well” (two big dips next to each other) and watch as it coursed around in a figure of eight before disappearing. In another corner, there was a pool of ferrous liquid that formed itself into tight, hedgehog-like balls of cones when attracted by a huge magnet underneath.
Next to that, you could experiment with camera shutter speed to capture the exact moment a drop falling into a beaker caused a glimmering coronet of water globules to erupt around it. A show about electric charge ended by releasing an enormous crack of electricity, a silver bolt part-way between an electric shock and a lightning bolt.
The discipline of having to design something for children is helpful, because most children will not engage in something entirely abstract. Yet as we grow up, we are expected to deal in abstractions more and more.
Our willingness to do so is important because successful countries must nurture a strong culture of respect for scientific knowledge, even if we also keep up a healthy attitude of scepticism towards authority. This respect for science is an act of faith for most people, though. We cannot see the virus we are washing away when we follow public health advice, but thankfully, most of us will do it diligently all the same.
Still, it is refreshing to visit a place where you can see scientific concepts at work with your own eyes. I might recommend waiting until the epidemic is on the wane, however.
The place looked like a petri dish for germs. Fortunately, they remained invisible to the naked eye.
The adult equivalent of a child play area is, of course, a gym. Mine recently sent out a note to members asking them to use wipes provided to wipe down equipment and asking us to stay away if we had any virus symptoms, even mild ones. Helpfully, it did not mention what the main symptoms are. At the bottom of the email, under its logo, was the gym’s usual, tough-guy strapline: “Anything goes”. They had forgotten to add a useful footnote: “Anything goes. Except fever, a dry cough or difficulty breathing.”