Thanks to the collaboration between ATS pro Terra Sancta and AVSI, and sponsored by Italian Development Cooperation, two scientific exhibitions – previously presented at the Rimini Meeting – offering a new and exciting manner of experiencing mathematics and astronomy were inaugurated on 11 March at the University of Bethlehem.
The exhibitions, which will remain open until 15 March, are entitled “From one to infinity. At the heart of mathematics” and “Why so many dots of light? The Milky Way between science, history and art”.
The initiative is part of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs' project entitled “Supporting Emergency Education in the Palestinian Autonomous Territories”, supported by ATS pro Terra Sancta and the AVSI Foundation, and the central focus throughout the inaugural day was accordingly on education.
Presenting the exhibitions were Michael Sansur, Executive Vice President of the University of Bethlehem, Davide La Cecilia, Consul General of Italy for the Palestinian Territories and Luca Montecchi, principal of the Sacro Cuore High School in Milan and curator of the exhibitions. Each gave a short presentation thanking all those involved, noting that science was an instrument allowing man to seek to understand the reality in which he is immersed while also posing existential questions concerning the nature of reality itself.
Listening to the introductory presentations were numerous students from the University of Bethlehem and heads of a number of local secondary schools, whose students will shortly be visiting the exhibitions, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Education in Bethlehem and East Jerusalem.
When the interventions were completed, and after citing Pius XII who affirmed that “true science to an ever-increasing degree discovers God, as though God were waiting behind each door opened by science”, the ribbon was cut, and the students and invited guests were able to view the two exhibitions. For these youngsters, whom it is obviously necessary to continue to support, education is a fundamental tool for ensuring their liberty.
