In 1826, physicist Michael Faraday founded the Children's Christmas Lectures at London's Royal Institution. His goal was to communicate to children the excitement of scientific discovery. In keeping with the spirit of those lectures, Mark Croft, a professor of physics at Rutgers, and physics support specialist Dave Maiullo present a physics demonstration and lecture show for children of all ages each Dec. at Rutgers. This event is held in the Physics Lecture Hall at 136 Frelinghuysen Road, on the Busch campus in Piscataway. Driving Directions The event is free of charge and open to the public. The demonstrations presented are based on those used in our physics courses. They were designed not just to inform but with an eye toward humor and exciting the imagination. The object of the show is to emphasize the fun in science. Demonstrations will include an exploding hydrogen balloon, a man lying on a bed of nails and the use of a fire extinguisher to shoot a person on roller skates across the room. To see a list of possible demonstrations and an index to demo pictures/explanations, click here.

Pictures and information from past lectures.

Additional pictures and information from past lectures