Popular holiday science show takes to the airwaves

The ever-popular holiday lecture of chemistry professor Bassam Shakhashiri will once again play to a sold-out house this weekend, Dec. 2-3.

Tickets for the four free performances of “Once Upon a Christmas Cheery in the Lab of Shakhashiri” have all been given away. But the program at the Farrington Daniels Chemistry building, put on each holiday season by Shakhashiri, will be taped and first aired on Wisconsin Public Television at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 22.

This year marks the 31st anniversary of the popular one-hour lectures, which have become a Madison holiday tradition. In the past, against a dazzling backdrop of glowing liquids, exploding balloons and floating bubbles, mystery guests from Santa Claus to the mayor of Madison have kept audiences on the edge of their seats.

“The main purposes (of the lectures) are to share the joy of science with kids of all ages and to promote understanding and appreciation of science among all members of the community,” Shakhashiri says.