 Photo: Davide Castelvecchi/Fermilab |
"See, that's Albert Einstein!"
"Huh?" was the most common response from caramel-apple-wielding pre-school kids to their parents.
"Albert Einstein! He was a really famous scientist."
It was a classic pre-Halloween weekend in St. Charles, an old Illinois town now engulfed by Chicago's metropolis. At the local scarecrow competition, Fermilab's entry induced more reverence than most. "Einstein" was sitting on a chair, complete with his fleece, slippers, uncombed hair, and deep science questions hovering over his head.
A team from Fermilab's Lederman Science Education Center made the scarecrow, filling old clothes with dry prairie grass from Fermilab's prairie reconstruction project. During a Friday afternoon rain, a tarp helped Professor Einstein stay dry. On Saturday and Sunday, he enjoyed some sunshine as thousands of festival-goers streamed past his chair, with kids taking a really close look at his face.
For the scarecrow, the Fermilab team had a budget of $200 at their disposal. The final cost: $11.50.
Davide Castelvecchi
