Edinburgh International Science Festival

Around 200 educational and interactive activities for the wee ones and lectures and talks for older heads in various venues across town.

2010 EISF

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2009 EISF

In 2009, the festival marked the International Year of Astronomy and the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth with special strands of events, including a look at the cosmos, From the Earth to the Universe, and a debate, Darwin, Ideology and God.

There are 170 events in 26 venues over two weeks of the EISF 2009.

Highlights

• ASIMO, an advanced humanoid robot is the result of 22 years of persistent research, study, trial and error. He's appearing in Edinburgh at the McEwan Hall for a series of events on the 4th and 5th April (Tickets only £2.50).
• In Hauntings: the Science of Ghosts, Professor Richard Wiseman, psychologist and TV personality, will be joined by writers, historians and the ghost consultant on the Harry Potter movies to examine the science of ghosts in a day-long event where you can witness a genuine Victorian phantasmagoria and discover how poltergeists once panicked the nation.
• Kids' fun science activites and experiments take place over seven floors of the City Art Centre.
• Explore the life of Darwin in a new British Council exhibition at the Botanic Gardens or travel in Darwin's footsteps discovering plants and animals from his journeys to South America
• Discover Science with the University of Edinburgh at the Museum with hands-on science activities for families.
• Edinburgh Zoo will offer the ultimate sleepover - where children can find out what animals are active at night, learn about their unusual habits, and explore behind the scenes.
• Our Dynamic Earth will host a 2-day Fossil Detective spectacular with the BBC TV Presenter, Hermione Cockburn
• Star gazing activities and workshops at the The Royal Observatory
• Free exhibition in St Andrew Square From Earth to the Universe.
• The Talking Science Programme at the University of Edinburgh's state-of-the-art Infomatics Forum, includes events on diabetes, climate change, Darwin, parasites and vibrators.
• Two shows from Stelarc, the Aussie performance artist whose work extends the concept of the body and its relationship with technology

Visiting Speakers

• Richard Dawkins
• Vivienne Parry
• Professor Owen Gingrich from Harvard University
• A special screening at the Filmhouse of Ratouille will include a short introduction by David Baraff of Pixar on the role of mathematical modelling in animation
• Gold Medal talk by pioneering geneticist Professor Jon Beckwith