The Calgary Herald – Patrick Feng
“The relationship between science and the public has sometimes been a rocky one. While surveys show the public generally views scientists in high regard, there remains concern in some quarters about the public’s understanding of science. Worries about getting more students into science and engineering, and public controversies over topics such as climate change and water fluoridation feed the nagging suspicion among some that the public is not interested in science. Last week’s highly successful Beakerhead shows this is not the case. Well over 50,000 people attended the five-day “smash up of art, science and engineering,” making it one of the city’s largest annual events. Not bad for an idea that started only four years ago. Moreover, Calgarians’ enthusiastic response to Beakerhead shows that public interest in science is high, especially if science is served up in something other than a boring lecture.”(more)