Open access, freely available online Book Review/Science in the Media A Night Out with the Nerds Sandra Knapp, James Mallet*

dd performance to science, the European Organization for Nuclear away.) Then Du Sol’s performance— and the equation results in Research (CERN) (see http:⁄⁄www. accompanied by theramin music and ATheatre of Science. Part scientifi c simonsingh.net). Wiseman is a overlaid with recordings of her talking lecture, part magic show, and part magician (a failed magician, he says, about how she felt while performing, in music and dance, Theatre of Science is as he deliberately drops a card he has particular how she hoped that people an innovative collaboration between palmed). Instead, he is now the world’s didn’t perceive her as a freak—opened Simon Singh and Richard Wiseman. only Professor of Public Understanding up a new dimension. The contrast The cosy atmosphere of the Soho of Psychology, at the University of between her matter-of-fact speech Theatre, stuffed with a lively crowd, Hertfordshire (see http:⁄⁄www. and the tension in the audience was which appeared swelled by a smattering richardwiseman.net). Wiseman’s forte unnerving. of family and friends, makes the is optical illusion, the magician’s stock- Although the show doesn’t end show a personal interchange between in-trade, but most impressive is his with a thunderous bang, it does have performers and audience. Several exploration of quirks of our perception real lightning—every bit as good. This in the audience must have been of ordinary things. “Psychologists today fi nal experiment (or do we mean scientists, judging by appearances: one earnestly debate if anything we see is skit?) requires two six-foot-high, out-of- enthusiastic member of the audience real at all”, he says. If you think you are phase, coupled Tesla coils producing was a dead ringer for the recently a great observer—and as scientists we a combined total of a million volts, we outgoing president of the Royal are generally proud of our powers of are told. Initially, in spite of the big Society, only taller and more etiolated. objective observation—just relax and numbers, we aren’t impressed by the Every show will be different, depending participate in Theatre of Science. You’ll be voltage (don’t combs generate similar on the audience’s reaction. Wiseman, amazed how easily you can be tricked voltages in dry hair?), but when we in a warm-up session, explicitly by Wiseman’s ruses. see and hear the arcs jumping six feet “titrates” the audience for its sense of Mixed in with Singh’s three- and smell the burnt air (thought to be humour, before embarking on the rest minute explanation of the Big Bang caused by nitrogen/oxygen compounds of the show. Here is an example: “We (more or less, if you exclude his fi ve- forming in the plasma created by the were hoping that our contortionist minute appendix), we see a clear arcs), we realize there are quite a few Delia would be here tonight, but, I demonstration of the inevitability amps as well as volts. Audience tension promise you, this is not a joke, she of coincidence. In The Bible Code, is slowly and carefully building. The called in a few moments ago to say Michael Drosnin argues that the Bible electrifying fi nale is no set-up job, she was tied up in traffi c”. With the contains many prophecies of today’s and there is real potential for danger. audience ready, Singh demonstrates events; however, the Theatre of Science Those wearing pacemakers are advised “the scientifi c method” by proving demonstrates that Herman Melville’s to leave the room to avoid certain mathematically that Teletubbies = evil. Moby Dick has even more startlingly death. This is supreme showmanship, As a hint, the proof involves the well- correct predictions…about Princess part circus, part laboratory, and part known law, “Money is the root of all Diana’s death, for instance. In another drama. Do we, the audience, viscerally evil”. piece, an alarmingly glowing orange believe in scientifi c theory? Using amusing and wacky examples and sparking gherkin is followed by We vote on whether Singh or from physics and psychology, Singh and beautiful, weird sounds from theramin Wiseman will occupy the Faraday cage, Wiseman explore the extraordinary in player Sarah Angliss and her assistant. also known as the “coffi n of terror”, the ordinary. Ground-breaking science The theramin is an electronic musical being inserted between the “coils of often emerges from massive pieces of instrument consisting of a rod and a death”. We see and hear lightning equipment, such as mile-long linear hoop, both attached to tuned circuits accelerators or radio telescopes, but that are connected to speakers. The Citation: Knapp S, Mallet J (2005) A night out with science—much of it still unexplored— theramin is played with hand and body the nerds. PLoS Biol 3(9): e325. pervades the seemingly ordinary, movements, which affect volume and Copyright: © 2005 Knapp and Mallet. This is an open- everyday world as well. For example, pitch; it is as much dance as it is music, access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits we are now convinced of profound and the sound is ethereal. unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in “holes in our understanding” of the Contortionists make us wince—but any medium, provided the original work and source physics of balloons. (How did he put how do they do that with a body that are properly cited. that knitting needle through, and then looks just like ours? Is it their bones, James Mallet is in the Department of Biology, withdraw it again, without the balloon their ligaments, or something quite University College London, London, United Kingdom. popping?) different? Inserting contortionist Delia Sandra Knapp is at the Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom. Singh is a well-known broadcaster, Du Sol into a whole-body magnetic popular science writer, and a successful resonance imaging scanner provides *To whom correspondence should be addressed. scientist who obtained his PhD in the answer—the images tell an amazing E-mail: [email protected] physics at Cambridge University and story. (Guess! We’re not giving it DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0030325

PLoS Biology | www.plosbiology.org 1532 September 2005 | Volume 3 | Issue 9 | e325 strike the humanoid form (which looks – the tension mounts. Suddenly, but it most emphatically did, and we like it was constructed to house the Wiseman leaps out of the “coffi n of recommend it as a great night out for son of Frankenstein) now containing terror”, saying “the physics was right, scientists and nonscientists alike. We Wiseman. After the discharges, the thank you!” hope for a return engagement soon! sounds die away, and there follows a The equation works, and we can long period of silence and immobility. be proud to be nerds. It is a blend of Performance Reviewed Wiseman R, Singh S (2005) Theatre of science Singh then moves to slowly and science, humour, and performance [stage production]. London: Soho Theatre. deliberately open the Faraday cage that might not have worked at all, Produced 4 July 2005–19 July 2005.

PLoS Biology | www.plosbiology.org 1533 September 2005 | Volume 3 | Issue 9 | e325