Yale Bulletin and Calendar

September 30, 2005|Volume 34, Number 5

Saturday series for children shows
them that 'science is for everyone'

From tracing the dinosaur-bird connection to tracking down black holes, the return of the Science Saturdays lecture series will offer schoolchildren a peek into the world and work of today's scientists.

The lectures -- designed for students grade 7 and above -- will be held 10:30 a.m.-noon on four successive Saturdays beginning Oct. 8 in Davies Auditorium, Becton Engineering and Applied Science Center, 15 Prospect St. They are free and open to the public.

The program, which debuted in the spring, is organized and hosted by Ainissa G. Ramirez, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering. She created the series to introduce children to scientists -- who they are, and how and why they study what they do. It is designed to shatter stereotypes about scientists and to show the fun of science.

"Science is for everyone and those who do it come in all colors, shapes and sizes," says Ramirez, noting that the featured speakers this fall are of various backgrounds, ages and disciplines. The topics and speakers are as follows:

Oct. 8 -- "The Evolution of Birds: Why Birds Are Dinosaurs," by Richard Prum, the William Robertson Coe Professor and director of graduate studies in ecology and evolutionary biology, and curator of vertebrate zoology at the Peabody Museum of Natural History;

Oct. 15 -- "Mr. Feynman's Quantum Mechanics: A Field Guide for Curious Characters," by Steven M. Girvin, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics;

Oct. 22 -- "Science in the Swamps: What Frogs Are Telling Us," by David Skelly, professor at the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; and

Oct. 29 -- "How To See a Black Hole," by Charles Bailyn, the Thomas E. Donnelley Professor of Astronomy and professor of physics.

Ramirez, a much-honored materials scientist, says there was a great response to the spring series from teachers, parents, children and even professors who have asked to be part of this program.

"I never expected all this when I put the program together," she says. "I am a bit humbled by how this program has been embraced by Yale and New Haven. People stop me on the street to say that they enjoyed the program or that they saw me on CTV talking about it with my science demonstrations."

This summer, Yale honored Ramirez and the Science Saturdays program with the Elm-Ivy Award, and the series has been hailed by New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr., who said, "As we make the teaching of math and science a top priority, programs like this one should serve as a model."

The program is supported in part by the National Science Foundation, the Yale Faculty of Engineering, the National Society of Black Engineers, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Scienceworks. More information is available online at www.eng.yale.edu/science.

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