Museum of Science, Boston

Lecture [Return to listing page]

With Marc Abrahams, editor, Annals of Improbable Research and co-founder, Ig Nobel Prizes; Daniel Rosenberg, chemist, Harvard Natural Sciences Lecture Demonstrations Team. This presentation is part of the ongoing Science on Screen Series.

Alec Guinness delivers one of his most beloved performances in this smart, satirical comedy that pits one inventor against the forces of Britain's textile industry. Sidney Stratton (Guinness) is a mild-mannered but single-minded research chemist on a quest to bring progress to mankind by inventing a new kind of fabric that never gets dirty and never wears out. After a series of rocky starts, he finally succeeds, and is hailed as a genius. But when manufacturers and labor unions realize that his everlasting cloth could destroy their industry, they resort to desperate measures to make sure his invention never gets to market

There are Sidney Strattons everywhere — researchers and inventors who go to incredible lengths to pursue wild and often wonderful ideas, many of which the public never hears about. But guest speaker Marc Abrahams thinks we should know about the Strattons of the world. In addition to being the co-founder and editor of the Annals of Improbable Research, a science humor magazine that showcases real research being done on strange or unexpected topics, Abrahams is the originator and emcee of the Ig Nobel Prizes, annual awards honoring unbelievable-but-true achievements that first make us laugh and then make us think. In honor of his Science on Screen appearance, Abrahams will wear a self-perfuming suit inventing by an Ig Nobel recipient.

Abrahams will be joined by Harvard chemist Daniel Rosenberg, who will address a key question, especially for all those prone to spillage: Is it scientifically possible to create clothing that never gets dirty and never wears out?

Tickets: Museum of Science members and students: $7.75; general admission: $9.75; Coolidge Corner Theatre members: free. Tickets are available in advance at coolidge.org or at the theater box office, 290 Harvard Street, Brookline.

With Science on Screen, the Coolidge Corner Theatre shows a feature film or documentary with a basis in science, combined with exciting remarks by noted scientists and others in related fields. The Science on Screen series is co-presented by the Museum of Science, Boston and New Scientist magazine and supported by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, with additional support from Gesmer, Updegrove, LLP, and Richard Anders.