Feature

Science in a Stocking

The gift of learning is a gift for a lifetime...

Vicki Hyde

Science centres, observatories and specialist stores all offer an interesting range of gifts, and many have catalogue or mail order facilities.

The Nature's Window shops in Auckland have a wonderful selection of science-related gifts, ranging from the $2,500 Galileo Thermometer -- just right for that executive art niche -- to $2.50 stamps and rubbers. Soapsters ($5.95) are a sneaky present for small children disinclined to wash; the clear glycerin soap encases a small toy such as an orca or dolphin.

The Nature Discoveries shops (Wellington, Dunedin, Christchurch) have similar products, though the large amount of print and video material from "creation scientists" sits oddly alongside some impressive fossil displays ($4.50-$2,000) dating well before the 4004BC creation date the former espouse...The Learning Curve (Christchurch, Queenstown) has a great Fossil Discovery Collection kit ($34.95), which includes 10 fossils, as well as related activities.

Sophisticated graphics on film and computers don't seem to have diminished the fascination of simple, but effective, images. The pop-up 3D Viewer ($12.95) has a cardboard pack with a viewer and a set of 14 stereo images, along with instructions on how to take your own stereo photos. Viewmaster has hit the electronic age with a talking version ($29.95) of its old classic, which has a sound cartridge working alongside the traditional 3D image.

The Children's Bookshop in Christchurch has the Science Busy Box Series ($16.95) for younger children. The boxes, about the size of a litre milk carton, hold a collection of simple materials, instructions and activities investigating different areas related to science, such as magnetism or music. Reading is not a requirement, though the shop does try to ensure that their book stocks complement the products in their science corner.

Team up the well-designed Two-Way Microscope ($21.95) with a book on, say, insects, and you've got a lot of learning and fun. This robust microscope -- more a magnified viewing platform -- lets you examine the subject from above and from the side. Use this with Arihia Smith's book He ingoa ngaarara Insects and spiders (Lincoln University Press/Daphne Brasell; $14.95) for a good introduction to legend and learning about local invertebrates.

Other ways of looking at things include the ever-popular Optic Wonder, a combination magnifying glass, binocular and compass; and kaleidoscopes available from the International Antarctic Centre and other outlets. A new take on the latter is the Odyssey Scope ($36.50), recommended by Science Alive! This is an interactive kaleidoscope which uses a rotating magnetic holder and holographic shapes to form patterns, and you can insert your own items into the tube as well.

Or pick up a poster or mobile. Astronomy features well here, with Science Alive! stocking a Solar System Mobile ($17.50) that glows in the dark, and Reed Publishing recently releasing a new Solar System poster ($7.95) which includes a section on the Southern Cross. A more up-market Amazing Solar System Planetary Science Kit ($89.95) at Learning Curve includes detailed 3D scale models of the planets to construct, either for hanging or on display stands. For more information, give your budding astronomer The Kingfisher Book of Space (Kingfisher/Shore Pacific Books; $39.95). The design and artwork is stunning enough to inspire anyone, and is well supported by comprehensive, non-patronising text.

A pair of binoculars is a versatile present. Attach one of Penguin's well-designed Pocket Guides to New Zealand birds (covering Seabirds, Migrant Waders, Bush and Countryside, Shore and Wetland; $9.95), and you'll make an ornithologist happy. Or add the new edition of Philip's Moon Map ($16.95; though do note that its orientation is for the northern hemisphere!) or one of the inexpensive and comprehensive local astronomy handbooks put out by Carter or Auckland Observatories ($12). Starry handmade ties ($35) or hair scrunchies ($6) from the Auckland Observatory's shop can add a touch of sartorial elegance.

Specialist travel with a science bent -- natural history, Antarctica, geology -- is popular. Heritage Expeditions runs a number of excellent trips, primarily in the Fiordland, sub-Antarctic islands and Antarctic, staffed by specialists and often with their own scientific purpose. For expeditions closer to home, check out continuing education courses, as weekend bus tours and field trips can be entertaining and educational.

How about a good first-aid kit, along with a plastic, clip-together skeleton? Seeds make an inexpensive, but lasting (one hopes!) gift. You can get prisms at two-dollar shops, or go up-market with cut crystal to see the wonders of refraction and reflection at first hand. Science is where you find it, after all. And if you get desperate, there's always gift magazine subscriptions...

Vicki Hyde is the editor of New Zealand Science Monthly.