Fun with physics may sound like a contradiction in terms for those who struggle with the subject. The presenter of the annual Irish Times/Royal Dublin Society demonstration lecture for students hopes to convince his audience however, that physics does have its lighter moments.
Dr Randal Henly, a teacher with 25 years' experience of making science entertaining, will deliver two demonstration lectures at the RDS in Dublin on January 16th. He will argue that physics gets a bad rap and isn't really all that difficult.
Dr Henly will do this by taking complex physics topics and making them understandable through lively experiments and presentation. He will demonstrate electrostatics, Bernoulli's principle and electric circuits. He will also shrink wrap a child, fire a potato gun and create invisible string.
Dr Henly has presented many lecture demonstrations, including "The Magic of Chemistry" - another contradiction if you don't know your orbitals from your bonding energies. He is editor of the Irish Science Teachers' Association journal, Science, and also lectures on science teaching methods.
There are two lectures planned for Tuesday, January 16th, at 11 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. The venue is the RDS concert hall and the cost is £1 per student. Student groups are particularly welcome and those wishing to book places should contact Ms Carol Power, RDS development executive, at (01) 668-0866, ext 217 or by email at carol.power@rds.ie