The Naughton Institute on Pearse Street in Dublin opened to the public on 2 February. The Institute is named after one of the founding patrons, Doctor Martin Naughton. An initiative of Trinity College Dublin, the Institute will explore how science impacts on our daily lives.

The magnificent gallery is a world first and there’s something here for everyone. The brochure mentions ‘white hot’ scientific issues, and to tell you the truth I haven’t got my head round that one yet. There will be exhibitions, public experiments, challenges, festivals, workshops and debates. And if there is some burning issue exploding in your Modula Oblongata, well hop along to the Gallery.

The Science Gallery held its inaugural exhibition ‘Light Wave’ in early February. Yours truly went along to a Lightwave event titled ‘Rock Concert Visuals’ presented by Willie Williams, ‘Lightwave’ show director and multimedia artist. Willie is best known for his stage lighting work with U2.

He explained the relationship between the rock music artist and the stage lighting. Some of the artists featured on screen included David Bowie, U2 and REM. ‘Lightwave on the Streets’ featured a Volkswagen Beetle covered with 1,659 computerised lights. If you saw this Beetle with a few gargles on you, well, God only knows.

The founding director of the Science Gallery is Michael John Gorman from Dublin. Michael’s ambition is that the Science Gallery will appeal to people from various backgrounds. You don’t have to know about Archimedes in the bath shouting ‘eureka’ as the water sloshes over the edge. And you can be impervious to Newton’s law of gravity and the Granny Smiths falling to the ground.

The Science Gallery was initiated by Professor Mike Coey of Trinity College’s CRANN research centre. CRANN means Tree in Irish, and in this case the tree of knowledge.
The funding for the Science Gallery came from Trinity College, the Department of Enterprise and some private funding. Michael John Gorman wants to remove the myth and magic from science and the Gallery is the starting point.

The Gallery is in an ideal position, close to lots of work places and commuter stop-offs. The Dublin Docklands, IFSC, Pearse Street Dart Station and the city centre are all close by. Walkers can enter the Naughton Institute, stroll through the college grounds and exit at Grafton Street.

The Gallery is focusing on 15 to 25-year olds and it is hoped that free admission will attract these students to drop in on a regular basis. Encouraging the ‘Einsteins’ of the new millennium and throwing off the esoteric cloak is the function of this Science Gallery– novice and anorak, don and donkey all together like Brown’s cows.

The Gallery has a multimedia lecture theatre which can double as a cinema and can seat 144 people. You can discuss nuclear energy, stem cells, green issues, biofuel issues and how to get figs into fig roles.

And if you have the neck you can ask why toothpaste comes out in stripes and why it’s not all mixed together. Forget about conjecture, let’s leg it to the Science Gallery.