Holiday Science Show to Dazzle Young, Old Alike

The Department of Physics and Astronomy at Rutgers University will present its ever-popular, spectacular holiday show – the annual Faraday Christmas Children’s Lecture. Designed to dazzle and capture the imaginations of young and old alike, the demonstrations feature such spectacles as real flowers frozen to the point where they shatter like glass, exploding hydrogen balloons, a person lying on a bed of nails and a fire extinguisher used to rocket a person across the room.

The shows are based on the tradition of famous British physicist Michael Faraday, whose work in the early 1800s laid the foundation for the electric motor and electrical generation. His Children’s Christmas Lectures at London’s Royal Institution, which continue today, were designed to communicate to youngsters the excitement of scientific discovery during a season of joy and celebration.

Rutgers’ version is produced by Mark Croft, a physics professor in the School of Arts and Sciences, and physics support specialist Dave Maiullo. The demonstrations they will present are routinely used in university physics courses not just to inform students but also with an eye toward humor, exciting the imagination and emphasizing the fun in science.