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I recall seeing a very, very large cloud chamber at the Seattle World's Fair in the
early 60s. If my memory is correct, it probably measured something like 20 feet in
diameter. It was just plain fascinating. Almost a show stopper in terms on an
attraction in the U.S. Pavilion. In a similar way, I was mighty impressed by a model
of a particle collision demonstration device at the Lawrence Hall of Science
(Berkelely, CA) many years ago. I think a smaller version may still exist there. I
forget the details. However, it used small balls which participants would fire into a
closed chamber and the ball would bounce out in a different direction than the one
fired in. The trick was to guess what shape the 'particle' hidden inside the chamber
was.

What makes an exhibit engaging? Simplicity and surprise. There was a good example of
this recently on the Discovery Science Channel's Discovery This Week science news
show. They had a 7 minute segment about a fellow from near Flint Michigan who has a
very simple technique for moving very large blocks and other structures by himself
with the very simplest of tools. See
<http://www.100megsfree4.com/farshores/a04rs.htm> and
<http://theforgottentechnology.com/Page1.htm>. I just about fell out of my chair when
they showed the guy moving a barn 300 feet in an hour by himself. Stuff like this
really is attention getting and would be fun to try. Comprehension is almost
immediate. No long explanations required at all. As an aside to the topic, it would
make a very good exhibit, but probably somewhat dangerous if one used large blocks.

Perhaps another angle on this topic is reducing the 'fear' associated with an
exhibit. If one advertises in big letters, Atomic Physics Exhibit or, perhaps better,
Mathematical Diophantine Equations Explained, I suspect a lot of people are going to
say, "Geeze! How do I hope to ever understand that? I'm no physicist, and
mathematics? Yuk! Let's go to the next exhibit."

--
                  Wayne T. Watson (The Wizard of Obz, Nevada City, CA)
                     (121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N, 2,701 feet)
                -- GMT-8 hr std. time, RJ Rcvr 39° 8' 0" N,  121° 1' 0" W
             (Formerly homo habilis, erectus, heidelbergensis and now sapien)

                    "One advantage of being disorderly is that
                    one is constantly making exciting discoveries"
                                                             -A.A. Milne
                         Web Page: <home.earthlink.net/~mtnviews>

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