The Cardinals may not have made it to the World Series this fall, but St. Louis still brought home a winner this past October when SciFest ’08 premiered at the Saint Louis Science Center.
Our goal was to have 15,000 people attend the festival and we ended up with over 20,000,” says Mike Behr, chief strategist for Behr Strategies and an executive director for SciFest. “So we’re all very happy.”
Judging from the crowd’s reaction, they have a right to be. People genuinely seemed to be having fun. And no matter who you were, what age, gender, or your science background, there was literally something for everyone.
Just outside the Science Center’s main entrance, a car show offered car enthusiasts an up-close-and-personal look at a solar-powered automobile and a Best Western NASCAR. Afterward, many attended the program “$20 a Gallon: Cars for the Future” and “NASCAR: The Science Behind the Speed” which explained just how Steel + Gas + Rubber = Speed.
Cardinal fans were treated to a lively discussion in “The Science of Baseball.” Using video clips from KSDK NewsChannel 5, David Peters, a dedicated Cardinals fan and professor of engineering at Washington University, answered such questions as what makes a curve ball curve; aluminum or wood bats; and do I slide head first or feet first?
“Personally, I wouldn’t slide at all,” he told the crowd laughing. “But what happens is when you go in feet first you’re done propelling yourself forward. Head first you can go a little bit farther. You also go a little bit faster. So if it’s a close game, head first! But wear a helmet.”
“Busting Beauty Myths” shed light on the psychology of appearance and generated some enthusiastic discussion about whether or not a person’s good looks really gives them an edge when it comes to the opposite sex.
As expected, “The Science of Chocolate” drew a large crowd that not only learned what makes good chocolate good, but that there really is such a job as chief chocolatier. A pop quiz at the end of the program had the audience tasting several types of Bissinger’s chocolate which prompted one audience member to exclaim, “This is the first test I’ve taken that I’ve actually enjoyed.”
Lovers of Rock music crowded into “Rock Guitar in 11 Dimensions” where Mark Lewney examined the physics of rock music using everything from Vivaldi to Queen. Playing a series of riffs on his electric guitar, Lewney told the crowd, “It could be that the universe is made of music.”
The universe may indeed be made of music, but to the organizers of SciFest it’s the reaction from the attendees that’s music to the ears.
“It’s amazing how people really got into it,” says Al Wiman, vice president, Public Understanding of Science at the Science Center. “I met some parents who took their kids out of school just so the entire family could attend the festival. They said they wanted their kids to absorb it all. That really says something.”
And that’s precisely the kind of thing festival planners hoped would happen. Interest in science and technology has dropped considerably over the years in the United States, almost to crisis proportions. SciFest organizers hope the festival will generate a spark of enthusiasm in both adults and kids that will eventually increase the number of people going into science and technology.
“Today, kids in this country want to be
rock stars, or athletes. In the meantime, countries like China and India are churning out PhD’s left and right,” comments Behr. “It’s science and technology that’s going to drive the economy.”
On the final day of SciFest a symposium of 13 local leaders in education, business and the media talked about the future of science and technology in St. Louis. The general consensus was if St. Louis wants to position itself as a center for science and technology, the State needs to step up.
“Right now we rank 47th in terms of funding for this type of thing,” Behr comments. “So there really has to be some way to generate a more active relationship with our legislatures. Also, if the city wants to become a center of excellence for science and technology, we need to communicate St. Louis better externally.”
Behr says in speaking with many of the out-of-town guests participating in SciFest, many knew about Monsanto, but didn’t realize it was based in St. Louis. They knew about Pfizer, but not that one of its Global Research Centers was here. They knew about Sigma-Aldrich because everyone in science uses its products. But again, they didn’t know it was in St. Louis. And, of course, they’d heard of Washington University, but they had no idea that in terms of NIH grants Wash U is right up there with Harvard.
“So they knew about the individual entities, but they didn’t know about the whole. We need to start connecting the dots,” Behr says. “The plan is to have the panel meet on a regular basis along with some additional university leaders, incubator leaders, and leaders in science and technology to talk about these things and what needs to be done.”
As for the future of SciFest, it’s scheduled in St. Louis for at least two more years. However if it is successful, it could become a permanent fixture. And judging from everyone’s reaction this year, that possibility is very good.
“Doug (King) told me that essentially we hit a homerun with this,” says Behr. “All of the out-of-town people who came in for SciFest want to be invited back. And our sponsors are all very pleased. Hugh Grant, CEO of Monsanto, said he had high expectations and we exceeded them. That’s nice to hear, especially our first year. We had to fumble through a lot of things, and it wasn’t promoted as well as it should have been. Still, we had better than expected attendance, and everyone seemed to have a really good time. Next year, we’ll have more time to prepare and I believe it will be bigger and better.”
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