Thanks, Martin, for contributing to the languages of Science!
Science cannot be done without a language.
In fact, Science is done via MANY languages: the language of graphics, iconic graphic, tabular language, formal language, the informal language we use when we speak about science in our mother tongue, etc.
We express it in writing in symbols, graphs, mathematical equations...
We express it in words in informal and formal sentences...
Of course, the Greek language permeates both the formal and informal languages of science, and the Greek atomosphere was present all the time during the workshop.
In Thessaloniki we had those many languages in the science workshop (either present or latent, behind each experiment and each explanation for an experiment), but we also had three mother tongues in which each of us thought: Slovensko, Czech and Catalan.
And we communicated in English (and with our handwaving).
The key figure in this ocean of languages was Martin Safarik, the English interpreter that came with the Slovakian delegation.
He was deeply involved in all the experiments!
My warmest thanks to him, both for having made an exceptional effort to run smoothly the face to face workshop, and also for having been of essential help before and after the wonderful Thessaloniki experience, in translating material like this,
and in serving as a liason with the Czech and Slovak teachers.
Thanks to all these teachers and specially to Martin, for their collaboration in this workshop, the outcome of which can be also seen in the Xperimania webpage:
http://www.xperimania.net/ww/en/pub/xperimania/competition2008.cfm
and in the FuturEnergia webpage: http://www.futurenergia.org/ww/en/pub/futurenergia2007/competitions/scouts_gallery.cfm
