ROYAL SOCIETY AND BRITISH ASSOCIATION MILLENNIUM AWARD
"welcoming the future, valuing the past"
St Mary Redcliffe's Journey into Science received one of the first Royal Society and British Association Millennium Awards. The key features of the project directed by Dr Eric Albone are that it uses the insights of young people advised by scientists, coupled with the power of information technology, to take forward the Journey into Science vision.
The many projects we considered for which St Mary Redcliffe location
would be specially appropriate included
- seismometry, observing vibrations of the whole earth;
- resonance, standing waves and sound - different windows vibrate noticeably with different notes of the organ;
- ecology and corrosion of an ancient building.
These are all projects we shall return to in the future.
Hidden Forces
The project we selected for priority attention, however, concerned the taming of the hidden forces at the heart of St Mary Redcliffe's medieval architecture. Stone collapses under its own weight if simply laid across two pillars, unless those pillars are close together. Medieval technology solved this problem in ingenious structures which are functional and very beautiful. The nature of stone seems almost to be transformed.
Working with Professor Francis Evans, Sheffield Hallam University, the writer Marion Haywood, designer Mr Rob Knight of Op-Tricks, Bristol, and the staff and students of St Mary Redcliffe and Temple Secondary School and of St Mary Redcliffe Primary School, we are working to demonstrate the ingenuity of medieval technology through interactive models, drama, and information technology. Deeper understanding can only add to the aesthetic appeal of this lovely building.
The Millennium Award looks to the future particularly in supporting
debate and discussion of science related ethical issues triggered by young
people. An outstanding example of this was the student-led
What's Wrong with Cloning Debate
in the summer of 1998.
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