If a week can be a long time for a politician, it is far too short for a budding young Newton, Galileo or Gates. Perhaps that is why Galway has opted for a fortnight of dedicated scientific activities rather than a mere seven days.
The "flagship" event will be the city's ninth annual science and technology festival on November 26th, details of which were announced yesterday by Minister of State for European Affairs Noel Treacy, at Ardscoil Mhuire secondary school, Ballinasloe.
However, preceding this "unprecedented celebration of science" will be days of activity in schools and colleges throughout the county, the Galway East junior minister and permanent patron of the event said.
Educators and performers such as bubble magician Steve Allman, the Cambridge University millennium maths team, Scottish designers Rude Mechanicals, and botanist and entomologist Eanna Ní Lamhna have been signed up for a programme that is supported by Galway multinational companies including Medtronic.
Visiting the event are Dr Virginia Zanger, vice-president of the Boston Children's Museum, and Linda Nathan, principal of the Boston Arts Academy, along with several of their students.
Writer, broadcaster and environmentalist Dick Warner will talk at primary schools, while other "in-class" workshops planned for primary and secondary level include the travelling Armagh Planetarium and the Madlab electronics workshop, which nurtures basics in circuit boards and soldering.
Questions such as why bacteria lived long before dinosaurs and why our genes decide our looks will be explored in "Ready Set Bio", devised by NUI Galway's Remedi research institute.
Secondary students will be entertained by US scientist Walter Rohr, who will give an introduction to plastics and polymers, and promises lots of flashes and bangs.
The programme is available on (091)745600 or at www.galwayscience.ie
