"Bear in mind that the wonderful things you learn in your schools are the work of many generations, produced by enthusiastic effort and infinite labor in every country of the world. All this is put into your hands as your inheritance in order that you may receive it, honor it, add to it, and one day faithfully hand it to your children. Thus do we mortals achieve immortality in the permanent things which we create in common".
This famous Einstein quote truly embodies the spirit of Eureka Science. We recognize that the greatest gift we can bestow upon younger generations is the gift of science. It is through science we can illuminate and understand the mysteries and miracles of our world. I can, first hand, appreciate the curiosity of the young demographic and the unfortunate circumstances that may plague them--it is under these circumstances this "need to know" may not be fully appreciated and appeased. Instead the child is left wondering and this astounding capacity for wonder and information acquisition may not be fully appreciated. This particularly important because scientific studies have found that the "developmental windows" for complex thought tend to occur early--and lack of stimulation during this period may have serious consequences later in life. Instead we may breed a society of cognitively lazy individuals, and may perpetuate much of the pain and agony being experienced in our present-world. As mentioned earlier, science permeates all aspects of life--a better command of science means a better command of life, a higher quality of life, and thus a happier society.--Einstein's address to a group of children, 1934.
Future Directions
With this in mind Bushra and I hope to expand Eureka to other communities that are less priviledged and bring science to the children. We have planned to approach the Boys & Girls Club of East Scarborough for this upcoming summer, we hope to have a show being run there biweekly. Bushra and I are touring US universities for graduate programs and on our visit we wish to approach the Chidlren's Hospital of Boston. We are hoping to convince the hospital via video footage, recommendation, evaluation statistics, and demonstrations to begin a Eureka Science program of their own, we will provide volunteers willing to present the information with scripts, as well as with step-by-step instructions of how to best conduct these experiments. If the idea picks up we will begin preparing scripts relevant to questions being asked by the children at the hospital (in Boston).
It looks like we’ve run out of time! In the mean time I hope you all continue to be curious of the mysteries and miracles of your own world. Farwell for now, but as we say around here…
EUREKA WE'VE GOT IT!
