There is something deeply ironic that I have spent the past five days at a World Science Festival. Oh yes, science runs in my family. My parents - a dentist and a physiotherapist - produced a microbiologist, a sports physiologist and a science teacher. And me. The science gene didn't so much skip a generation as skip one individual. By rights I should be covering WTF, the World Theatre Festival. This is much more my thing. Almost all of the love of the theatre in the gene pool landed right with me. Indeed when discussing My Fair Lady last week my brother said he'd rather pour acid in his eyes than see it. By way of clarification, just in case there had been any misunderstanding, he said it would be sulphuric acid. He is a scientist after all. It's not that I'm disinterested in science, it's just that I'm not that good at it. And like most mere mortals I tend to gravitate away from things I find too hard and towards things I like. Which in a way is the point of the World Science Festival. As well as discussing the big issues it's about getting to kids before they have decided science is hard and reminding them that science is everywhere and it's fun. Only if you are very bad at it does it involve sulphuric acid in your eyes....
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