Science vs. Magic

Last week Andrea had to be out for the afternoon, and Fiona had been asking to go to a museum for a few days, so I decided to indulge in a little borough pride and took Fiona to the New York Hall of Science. It's a very hands on place, which is great for a child Fiona's age, although I think next time I'll check the baseball schedule before I go (the hall is a stone's throw from Shea Stadium, and the Mets were home, so parking was tough to find and not cheap once obtained).

We spent some time in the preschool room, which was entirely designed for kids Fiona's age and younger, and then set out to explore the rest of the place. Like I say, it's a hands-on sort of place--there's something to touch on just about every exhibit--and Fiona had a great time even though she was too young to understand many of the displays. Two highlights:

1. A display on microbes had displays that you could squeeze to sniff the various smells that microbes can make. These include baked bread, grass after a rainstorm, and an armpit after exercising. Fiona's four, which means that for all her princess play, she's endlessly fascinated by anything disgusting. A week later I can still say the words "stinky armpit" and she collapses into helpless giggles.
   
   
2. A display on light and mirrors had one of those effects where you look through a hole and see a spring, but when you reach to touch the spring your hand moves right through it (because the spring isn't where your eye thinks it is; the trick is done with mirrors). Fiona reached out and saw her hand pass through.
   
   "It's magic!" she exclaimed.
   
   I knew I couldn't explain the entire effect to her, but this was the Hall of Science after all, so I figured I should at least make an effort.
   
   "It's not magic, it's science," I told her.
   
   "What's science?" she asked.
   
   "The spring is somewhere else, but the mirrors make it look like it's there."

That night, after we all got home, Fiona told her mother about the highlights of the visit. The stinky armpit got the most attention, but then I asked Fiona to tell Andrea about the spring.

"You reached out for the spring and it wasn't there!" Fiona told her.

"Really?" Andrea responded.

"Yes," said Fiona, nodding solemnly. "It's science."