July 31, 2010
The Mathematician
“Chuffed” is an understatement to how we felt at the Secret Garden Party when we hosted Marcus du Sautoy, the current Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science. As successor – and far more likeable alternative – to Richard Dawkins, he holds the highest official position in the entire country for endearing the public to science.
Does he do a good job? Well, he packed out our tent with more people than we had ever seen before – more than 140 by our count – with a chat on what most people probably think of as the driest subject they were ever subjected to: maths.
How did he bring it to life?
With football.
As butterflies, fairies and costumed crocodiles looked on, he explained why he thinks David Beckham chose the number 23 shirt: because it is a prime number, one of that group of quirky, inflexible numbers that have enchanted mathematicians since they could count. Divisible only by themselves and 1 (such as 2, 5, 13, 37, and on and on – perhaps to infinity), primes are stubborn, inelegant, clumsy, and yet somehow captivating to the numerically minded.
He held the audience for his full hour (and then some), perhaps by pure virtue of being a fantastic and affable speaker. Or maybe it was the enchanting nature of primal mathematics.
We’d wager the most likely explanation is the simplest: that it was a combination of the two.
We heart Marcus du Sautoy.
More pics here.
By Zoe
July 30, 2010
SGP: Anthem For Lovebox
Psychologist Gianna Cassidy walked us through the origins of music and its importance to the human condition. Simply put: we would not be human without music.
So everyone loves music, but not everyone can make it. Why should that be? It shouldn’t. Which is why Robert Thomas of RJDJ (the R stands for Reality) brought us the nifty new apps he has developed for the iPad and the iPhone. These anyone to play with the sound samples in a song and create their own sonic structures. Democracy never sounded so good.
By Zoe
July 29, 2010
SGP: Rosie the Organ Grinder
We explored the physics of sound with a hand-made street organ, crafted by model maker Roseanne Wakely, whose same hands are behind our giant synaesthetic brain.
SGP: Body Mapping with Petra
Sex psychologist Dr Petra Boynton joined science punk Frank Swain for a sexy science pub quiz. We learned more than we thought we could about chastity belts, medieval gynecological texts and studies into the walking patterns of women who experience vaginal orgasms. A lovely mail order bride and a constable from the fashion police stepped up to the front to demonstrate such a walk by competing for the most convincing vaginal orgasm strut.
Who won? The bride – with a fantastically normal gait.
By Zoe
0