Science Festival

Tonight the 24th Orkney International Science Festival begins here in Stromness with the event 'Hope's Beautiful Daughters' an evening of songs, music, and storytelling with Slovenian singer-songwriter Katarina Juvancic, jazz guitarist Dejan Lapanja, and local storyteller Tom Muir. The performance takes place at the Stromness Town Hall from 7.30pm-9pm. 

You can pick up a full programme of festival events here at the library, or you can view the programme on the festival website . 

To celebrate we have created our own mini Orkney Science Festival display of books, from Orkney Shore by Robert Rendall to the intriguingly titled Why Moths Hate Thomas Edison. 

Events for young scientists include the excitement of Saturday's Family Day in the King Street Halls, as well as Science with Wizard IV tomorrow in the Kirkwall Town Hall from 5-6pm, and Ten Ways to Explain the Universe (in your kitchen) on Wednesday 10th September from 5.15pm-6.15pm in the King Street Halls.

Should you feel inspired to try your own kitchen experiments we have a range of science experiment books to keep junior scientists safely entertained. 

Dr John Rae

image from http://www.johnrae200.co.uk/

Stromness is abuzz this weekend as delegates gather for the John Rae 200 International Conference. The conference explores the life and legacy of the arctic explorer, who was born at the Hall of Clestrain in Orphir, and grew up in and around Stromness where his father had taken over the Hudson's Bay Company agency.

Organised by the Stromness Museum, the conference features papers organised under three themes: Arctic Exploration, Museum collections and archive sources, and The Hudson's Bay Company and Orcadians in "The Nor' Wast". The full conference program can be viewed on the John Rae 200 website which also has a full list of events which have been organised to commemorate and celebrate Rae's bicentenary. 

This evening, as part of the conference a statue of John Rae will be unveiled at the Pier Head.  The ceremony takes place at 7.15pm for anyone who would like to go along. We won't make it but will try to take a photo of the statue for you next week . In the meantime here is the before picture of John Rae under wraps - or perhaps modelling the latest design for all-in-one arctic gear?!

If you'd like to learn about John Rae and his explorations, and find out why many feel his achievements have never received the official recognition they deserve, then come along to the library. Among the titles on Rae you will find No Ordinary Journey - published by the National Museums of Scotland in 1993 to mark the centenary of Rae's death,  and the two books by Stromness Museum John Rae 200 Exhibition Writer-in-residence, Canadian author Ken McGoogan - Fatal Passage and Lady Franklin's Revenge.

In his role as Writer-in-residence Ken will give a public lecture as part of the conference tomorrow evening, Sunday 29th September, in the Stromness Academy lecture Theatre at 7.30pm. The lecture is entitled Return to Rae Strait and entry is £5 payable at the door. 

Ken McGoogan's books not only tell of Rae's achievements but explain how his report on the fate of the Franklin expedition upset the Victorian establishment -  a campaign against Rae,  led by Lady Franklin, resulted in his achievements being dismissed or wrongly attributed. Many feel that it is time this wrong was righted and that John Rae should receive the official recognition for his achievements that he has, so far, been denied. 

This bicentenary year has seen the launch of the John Rae Society which has been formed to: 

...advance the education of the public in the life and achievements of Dr John Rae as the discoverer of the final navigable link to the Northwest Passage and as one of the greatest arctic explorers. 

Application forms to join the society are available in the library and they have a website under construction at www.johnraesociety.com 

As part of this drive to raise awareness of Rae a campaign was launched at the Orkney International Science Festival  with an online petition asking the minister responsible for the Post Office, Jo Swinson MP, to consider a special stamp to commemorate John Rae. 

You can find out more about Dr John Rae and his achievements in this article from the Orkney International Science Festival's online magazine Frontiers.

image from http://oisf.org/portfolio-items/a-year-of-events-to-honour-john-rae/

Binary Bonsai

The 2013 Orkney International Science Festival starts tomorrow, Thursday 5th September and as usual the programme is packed with interesting events to suit all ages and interests. You can see a full list of events on the Festival website, but the library Yap and Yarn group members are getting involved in one event which takes place as part of the Family Day on Saturday 7th September in the King Street Halls in Kirkwall.

The project  Botanica Mathematica is the brainchild of Madeleine Shepherd and Julia Collins who came up with it as a celebration of the year of Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013. The project's Ravelry Group page explains the nature of the project and its aims:

Botanica Mathematica is an exploration of mathematical structures arising in botanical forms, using generative instructions and textile techniques to create a sculptural installation. Simple algorithms applied to embroidery, patchwork, knitting and crochet generate elegant structures, rich textures and fascinating patterns.The aim of the project is to create an ever-growing textile herbarium of plant like forms generated by the application of algorithmic processed to craftwork of all sorts.

Madelaine contacted knitters in Orkney to encourgage them to create their own trees to add to the knitted bonsai forest and there is a free pattern for the binary bonsai tree available on Ravelry. It's not too late to knit your own bit of nature, if you can't get along to see Madeleine and Julia on the day then you can drop off your tree(s) at either Stromness or Kirkwall library and we will pass them on. As well as a chance to see the forest on the day of the event there will be kits of pattern and yarn to take away and make later.

Trees have  started to spring up in the libraries already. Kirkwall library has this very lovely specamin:

While the Stromness tree has a distincly Orcadian character with its lean away from the prevailing wind!

Stromness Spirit of the Sea

The Orkney International Science Festival may be finishing today but tomorrow sees the first day of a brand new three day series of events, activities and performances here in Stromness.

Stromness Spirit of the Sea aims to celebrate the past, present and future maritime heritage of Stromness, and will have events covering all aspects of this relationship -  including guided sea tours and heritage town walks, sea legends, music and song, arts and crafts,children's workshops, and the chance to taste fresh local food and drink.

Programmes detailing the events are available in Stromness from John Rae Newsagents, Visit Orkney, and Stromness Museum; and from Orkney Television Enterprise, Broad Street, Kirkwall. Tickets for the events are available from John Rae Newsagent in Stromness, OTE in Kirkwall or can be reserved via the website. 
The events open tomorrow (Thursday 13th September) at the South Pier, with music from Celtic/Scottish folk band Barluath at 10am, followed by the welcome address by Howie Firth at 10.30am.

Looking at the forecast for gale force winds over the next few days it seems that visitors to the events may also get to see Stromness' relationship with the sea at its most spirited! So if you find yourself seeking shelter between events then pop in to the library where we have a range of books about Orkney's maritime heritage, including the wonderful photographic record of Stromness published in 1992, Sea Haven: Stromness in the Orkney Islands by Bryce Wilson and Keith Allardyce.