Scientific Achievements Shown. In Exhibition

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28938, 4 July 1959, Page 12

Scientific Achievements Shown. In Exhibition

An enormous animated egg which needs no egg cup but merely revolves on end in a

huge saucer is one of the most spectacular and mystifying ex- . hibits at the U.N-E.S.C.O. science exhibition which will open at the Durham Street Art Gallery on Monday. It is 'mystifying until Mr P. C. Bandyopadhyay, the director of the exhibition, explains that the big aluminium egg is revolving because of the rotating magnetic field produced by four coils underneath the shallow plastic saucer. As its speed increases, the egg overcomes the force of gravity and rises to spin on its “sharp end.” There are 36 other equally interesting experiments and displays at the exhibition and there are to be plenty of demonstrators to provide the explanations. The theme of the exhibition is “energy and its transformation.** and the experiments and illustrated explanatory panels begin with the basic concepts of energy and such simple devices as the humble yo-yo and progress through the various sources of energy and their uses until they arrive at the concept of nudeai energy and a model of a nuclear reactor. Mr Bandyopadhyay is anxious

that tn spite of the more spectacular nature of some of the experiments, visitors should not confine their attention to those exhibits. “This is an educational

’■ exhibition, not a fun fair,” he said yesterday. Among the experiments likely to impress visitors most are a device which shows that the heat of a person's palm can be converted to electrical energy; a cut-away working model of a Renault car engine; chemicals of different colours whieh glow brightly when ultra-violet rays are played on them; and five

cases of radioactive materials which make a Geiger counter tick at varying rates. There is one experiment which, in the right hands, could well vie with the National Orchestra for the interest of music-lovers. It is a perforated disc revolving between a source of light and a photo-electric cell. \ When the disc revolves the light passing through the holes starts electrical impulses which are amplified as various musical sounds, according to the speed of the disc and the distance of the ring of perforations from the centre of the wheel. The final six panels deal with scientific museums in various parts of the world, explaining why they are founded, what their value is, and how they are financed.