Like in a real laboratory
The Week of the Witches, which takes place as part of the celebrations of the European City of Science Katowice 2024, guarantees a lot of attractions. Interesting events of the second day attracted many interested people in several cities.
The second day of the Week of the Witches began at SPINplace in Katowice, where the exhibition “Maria Skłodowska-Curie.” In love with science” was opened and a meeting with its creators took place. Prof. Tomasz Pospieszny and Ewelina Wajs-Baryła, the authors of the project, talked about how they managed to collect so many details about the heroine’s private and professional life.
The exhibition presents unusual and non-obvious facts about the life of the famous Nobel Prize winner. Prof. Pospieszny, who was responsible for her preparation and co-author of the Skłodowska-Curie biography, believes that there is still much to be discovered about the scientist.
My love for Maria started when I was 6 years old “I saw an unusual portrait on the wall at school, went home, asked my parents who this lady ‘Curie’ was, and I have been looking for any information about her ever since. Prof. Pospieszny who, together with Ewelina Wajs-Baryła, is reaching out to new sources about the Nobel Prize winner. They also meet with her descendants and family members, thanks to which they gain valuable memories about her. The authors of the exhibition describe their findings on the website of the More Beautiful Science Page, which is dedicated to popularizing knowledge about scientists.
- The project "More beautiful side of science” began with a series of humanizing lectures entitled "More beautiful side of science - the role of women in the creation of chemistry and physics", created for students of the Faculty of Chemistry of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań by Tomasz Pospieszny. Because we still have the impression that there is not much talk about the discoveries of women in science, we decided to expand the base with other outstanding women – added Ewelina Wajs-Baryła.
The authors have already written about Irena Joliot-Curie and Maria Goeppert-Mayer. The exhibition will be on display in the SPINplace building until the end of the week.
At the Faculty of Chemistry of the Silesian University of Technology, a lecture and workshops entitled “Spells transforming matter” took place. The participants had the opportunity not only to gain knowledge, but also to wear a white apron, gloves, glasses and try their hand during work in a chemical laboratory, learning in advance the most important rules of using this place.
- We have prepared classes of polymers. They occur literally everywhere - in the human body, in the world around us. But there are too many of them now. We tried to explain to the children and show that synthetic polymers can be replaced with natural ones. It is more environmentally friendly and can better serve man - explains Dr Gabriela Dudek, professor of SUT.
A great impression on the guests of the Faculty of Chemistry was made by the opportunity to work in a real laboratory under the supervision of scientists of our University. Children had the opportunity to experiment, creating rubber balls, or checking the strength of blue light, thanks to which holes in their teeth are patched with polymer .
The World of Science and Fantasy of Zagłębie Mediateka in Sosnowiec invited primary school pupils to the workshop "In the world of witches and wizards". The participants explored the knowledge of witches and wizards and made their own images of witches. Their work will be presented at an exhibition in the World of Science and Fantasy.
The second day of the Week of Witches ended with the screening of the film “Skłodowska” directed by Marjane Satrapi at the Rialto Cinema Theatre in Katowice and the lecture “Witches or just women? with particular emphasis on the history of Katarzyna Włodyczkowa from Czeladź", which took place in the auditorium of the Zagłębie Mediateka in Sosnowiec.
We invite you to further interesting activities as part of the Week of the Witches. The full schedule can be found at: https://program.miastonauki.pl/tydzien-czarownic
Text: Katarzyna Siwczyk, Martin Huć
Pictures: Tomasz Stokłosa, Martin Huć, private archive
