Symphony of Science: spreading scientific knowledge and philosophy through musical remixes

If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

Paul Sagan

Or, if you are a talented specialist in audio remixing with a passion for science, all you have to do is mix electronic music of your own produce with extracts of scientific television series, to create videos that explain why you must first invent the universe. It might seem like something cool and hype to get the kids all excited, but in reality it is quite profound and moving. I admit my opinion might be biased, as I have grown up watching these sort of series and never gave up the habit. In great measure, I share the enthusiasm and passion of those science luminaries, and they are largely responsible for my continued fascination with science. I cannot possibly imagine how can anyone not be touched and praise by the message these brilliant scientific minds convey.

The project is called Symphony of Science, and is lead by the Washington-based electronic musician John Boswell. The goal of this enterprise, says Boswell, is "to bring scientific knowledge and philosophy to the public, in a novel way, through the medium of music". For the making of videos, Boswell uses pitch corrected and auto tuned audio and video samples from television programs featuring scientists and educators, such as Carl Sagan's Cosmos, Richard Dawkins' TED presentation on our "queen" universe and series The Genius Of Charles Darwin, Richard Feynman's 1983 BBC interviews, Stephen Hawking's Universe series, Jane Goddall's TED presentation on What separates us from the apes? (in no particular order, and just to list a few).

Ever since their launch, in December 2009, Boswell has created 6 videos: A Glorious Dawn, (featuring Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking), We Are All Connected (featuring Bill Nye, Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman and Neil deGrasse Tyson); Our Place in the Cosmos (featuring Carl Sagan, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking, Michio Kaku); The Unbroken Thread (featuring Richard Attenborough, Jane Goodall, Carl Sagan), The Poetry of Reality - An Anthem for Science (featuring Michael Shermer, Jacob Bronowski, Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Richard Dawkins, Jill Tarter, Lawrence Krauss, Richard Feynman, Brian Greene, Stephen Hawking, Carolyn Porco, and PZ Myers); and The Case for Mars (featuring Robert Zubrin, Carl Sagan, Brian Cox, and Penelope Boston). The videos have attracted over 8 million views online, contributing to the release of the first song, A Glorious Dawn, on a special 7" 45rpm vinyl single.

If I had to choose a favourite - and indeed I have to pick one video only to show here - I would go for for the Poetry of Reality. It was one who made me think that this was why I had studied science in first place. And, and in this strange days I have to live, that speaks volumes.

Palitos la reine? Oh, you mean ladyfingers!

This is what happens when one tries to recreate an old family recipe and is away from home: the secret ingredient is nowhere to be found.

To cut a long story short, I want to cook an ice cream cake. It is an old family thing. My Mother cannot remember who gave her the recipe, and has been doing this cake for as long as I can remember. Only three ingredients are needed: condensed milk, double cream and palitos la reine.

To get double cream is easy enough. There is plenty of it where I live, available in different brands, from all parts of the Swiss geography, with slightly different compositions. If anything, I would be lost in diversity.

The condensed milk proves to be a bit more of a challenge. Where I come from, condensed milk is sold by the can. A small can of 370g like this, to be precise:

But, where I live, the most usual presentation is a squeezable tube. A big tube of 250g like this, to be precise:

There are probably very good reasons to sell condensed milk by the tube. But, for what I need it, this exotic presentation is not too practical. However, the supplier offers the condensed milk density and the mass, for an accurate conversion. Meaning, one spends a few minutes with careful calculations to find the exact quantities. When cooking, one pours a bit more, just in case. Then, check for sweetness, and add a bit more at random guess (and a bit more, just in case).

Lastly, the most complicated ingredient of all, the palitos la reine. The name roughly translates to “the queen sticks”. They are light and sweet sponge cakes roughly shaped like stick or an elongated eight. In Portugal, they are ubiquitous and you can find them in all patisseries, freshly backed or powdered. Like this:

After looking for a while in the local stores for any sort of cookie that could be used as a replacement, I was about to bake my own palitos. But, during a desperate last search on the internets, I found out that they seemed to be used to do Charlotte Russe (nothing but palitos la reine with an aromatic cream of chocolate and coffee, explains the author of the entry on Wikipedia). Also, they seemed to be used for Tiramisu, as a replacement for savoiardi. A couple of mouse clicks after, I had in front of me the picture of a ladyfinger (or savoiardi) (or palito la reine).

My local bakery still didn’t have them (classical Swiss answer: “we don’t use this here”). An Italian shop assistant a few stores down the road was more than happy to sell them (“for Tiramisu, non e vero?”. Actually, no, but I was not the one to disappoint a nice young man).

Twenty-four hours latter, Mr Burnt Sugar finally tasted the much celebrated ice cream cake:

My Mother would be proud of me...