Putting fun back into the equation

Science as entertainment is enough to raise a dismissive laugh from generations of pupils who thoroughly loathed the subject. And daring to attach the word science to a tourist attraction is enough to put people off. "Even the name `science centre' has negative connotations," admits the founder and project director of The Science Works in Tralee, Tagdh Condon. This however did not stop him from opening the 3,500-square-foot centre with its 60 exhibits in the middle of Tralee 18 months ago.

The centre, based in the Super Bowl in the town, attracts over 30,000 visitors a year. And while Condon admits that most of the business comes from foreign tourists, The Science Works is branching out with travelling science roadshows specifically geared for primary and secondary pupils.

The roadshows began last autumn as a pilot project, he says, and were an unqualified success. "It has been absolutely fantastic." This year he is putting two shows on the road, one including a mobile planetarium so that "star shows" can be put on display for kids who haven't yet learned to hate science. "The most important thing is to break down that barrier against science," he suggests.

The roadshows are based on the notion that science isn't only just memorising chemical formulas, reciting geological layers or trying to grapple with the Latin names for plants. Science, if presented in the right way, can be dished up as fun - yes, you read that correctly, fun.

"People go to science centres for fun," says Dr Ian Elliot, chairman of the Irish Science Centres Association Network, a 32-county co-operative of science centres. "Understanding how science works is fun. Of course behind it all there are very serious educational and financial reasons for these centres."

People know they are in for something to do with science when they travel off to the likes of the Armagh or Schull planetariums or for a look at the Leviathan, the wonderfully restored telescope at Birr Castle. But how many have visited a science centre without realising that they had ventured into such dangerous territory and might actually have enjoyed it?

Dublin Zoo is a classic science centre where you can learn about habitat, predation and the food chain and stare the reality of extinction right in the face. The Ceide Fields interpretative centre in Co Mayo is another place where science and entertainment meet. Geology, archeology and anthropology are cleverly hidden amongst its exhibits, as is the case with those other well known "science" centres, Newgrange and Navan Fort.

The outstanding Exploris aquarium at Portaferry and Oceanworld at Dingle have nothing to do with science - unless you want to learn about the marine environment and ecosystems, the interdependency of species or how human activity can harm the seas. It is up to you whether visits to such centres represents fun or a learning experience, but clearly the intention is to provide both.

Bridgid Roden, project director at Ireland's Historic Science Centre at Birr Castle, notes a growing demand for places where science and fun merge. "The appeal is you have the hands-on approach," she says. "The mysteries of science are translated into everyday language. They are becoming more and more popular with young people particularly from five to 15," she says. "In a way you wonder if it is science they are learning or if they are just fascinated by the displays."

The Birr Castle project is an ambitious £4.4-million effort that started with a full restoration of the mighty Birr telescope, built by the third Earl of Ross in the 1840s and the most powerful telescope in the world for a time. At Birr you can have a look at the Leviathan and then wander through the extensive gardens which surround the castle.

Ireland's science centres are also about heritage, Dr Elliot points out. Places such as the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Craigavad, the Straffan Steam Museum, the National Print Museum at Beggar's Bush and the Blennerville Windmill outside Tralee provide a repository where our industrial past is preserved and explained.

All of these centres offer education and entertainment, which makes them different from the razzy fun of an amusement or water park or the passive digesting of Ireland's scenic attractions. Tadhg Condon asks, however, whether we should promote these centres for the home or the foreign audience. "Is it more important to entertain the tourists or to educate the kids?" The answer of course is that our science centres serve both markets at once. And while the Yanks and Germans and French keep things busy during the summer, visiting student groups and domestic daytrippers help to bridge the quiet winter months.

The Armagh Planetarium gets tourists from all quarters, explains the planetarium director, Dr Tom Mason, with a large group of Spanish students paying a visit earlier this month. The centre offers the planetarium as well as hands-on exhibits on astronomy, earth sciences and physics. A more recent addition has been its Internet Centre where visitors are invited to "surf" the Net.

He has no problems with the notion of making science fun. "Displays have to be informative and also entertaining," he says. "It is about science but also entertainment and the more entertainment and `gee whizz' the better," Dr Mason says.

For those willing to suspend disbelief and give "science" a try, Dr Elliot recommends visiting "clusters" of centres where the drive will allow you to take in several sites. "There is a nice cluster near Straffan," he suggests, which includes visits to the Straffan Steam Museum, the nearby Butterfly Farm, the Callan Museum in Maynooth and Peat World, a Bord na Mona site near Lullymore.

Visit Birr Castle and desmene and include a ride on the "bog railway" at Shannonbridge and Locke's Distillery in Kilbeggin. If you head for The Science Works in Tralee you could include the Blennerville Windmill and also the Kerry County Museum which currently boasts a space display including a moon rock, space suits and examples of the freeze-dried delights that astronauts enjoy for their tea. This was opened earlier this year by the first man to walk on the Moon, Neil Armstrong.

The Armagh Planetarium and Navan Fort are within easy reach and if you don't mind the extra driving while in the North, take in Exploris at Portaferry or the Dunluce Centre in Portrush.

Dublin is not short of science centres and is expected to provide the location for a national science centre to be built as part of our millennium investment. Aside from the zoo you could include the National Botanic Gardens at Glasnevin, a remarkable bit of peace tucked away in the heart of the city. The Natural History Museum is another hidden wonder and then there are the Print Museum and Geological Survey in Beggars Bush.

This is only a sample of what is on offer if you are looking for entertainment. Any one of them would be streets ahead of struggling en famille with 10,000 others to a "fun" day on the beach or to a thrash in an overcrowded pool. Give it a try.