‘Wizard’ brings magical science act to Alaska schools

PALMER — Neither his tenure as a university professor nor his career as a science “wizard” could be considered a flash in the pan — though that is one of Dr. Garon Smith’s tricks.

Known as “G. Wiz” when he dons his handmade wizard robe and hat, Smith has been dabbling in the magic of chemistry since he received his very first chemistry set at 8 years old in 1955. In the kit, beside the regular instruction manual was a book of tricks that fueled a love of the science in its most exciting form.

“It looks like magic, but it’s actually science,” Smith told some 50 second-graders at Pioneer Peak Elementary School on Wednesday, after instantly turning a clear liquid dark.

Unlike most magicians, Smith always reveals his secrets after each experiment, so that students may understand what’s really happening, and figure out “how stuff works,” he said.

In the case of the instantly color-changing liquid, Smith added iodine to water that had been mixed with potato starch. Since the chemicals in such proportions take about 20 seconds to visibly react, and the liquid changes color completely in less than a second, Smith had time to recite a “spell” and rub the bottom of the glass, giving the appearance of conducting magic.

“Chemistry is like cooking, where you mix something together to make something new,” Smith told the students.

Though chemistry studied in a science lab doesn’t yield edible results nearly as often as every-day cooking, Smith pointed out, the two can converge, and did in Wednesday’s act. After pouring liquid nitrogen over a pan of puffed cheese balls, Smith selected a single, freezing snack and popped it into his mouth, showing the students what it’s like to look the part of a fire-breathing dragon as steam escaped from his mouth.

Smith then invited the students and teachers to do the same, advising them to wet the insides of their mouths thoroughly before snacking,

“You want to keep it engaging but safe,” Smith said later.

Although the act may look most like magic to younger students, Smith said it’s been effective with college students in their teens and 20s, as well as with older adults.

Smith actually started “performing science” to graduate students in 1980, when his wife, Jane, was a student at Colorado State University. A friend asked if Smith wanted to present his show to budding teachers there, and from then on it became a staple in Smith’s curriculum.

As the professor of an introductory chemistry class for applied science majors at the University of Montana-Missoula (UM), Smith found that his magic act was a perfect fit for kids who had never learned how cool chemistry could be.

“I knew no one in my class was a big fan of chemistry, so I worked hard to make it related to their chosen fields,” he said. “I made sure I did not come to class any day without some demo or object to show them.”

Smith’s magic isn't confined to the classroom, though. Over the years he has toured the country and the world as G. Wiz, taking time off when he can to share his knowledge and enthusiasm with others. In 2014, he even got the opportunity to visit the “Middle Earth” of New Zealand, where he not only showed the youth of the area something new, but fulfilled a personal bucket-list item when he toured the Weta Workshop that turned J.R.R Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” into blockbuster films.

Smith retired from teaching as a professor emeritus from UM last July, but plans to visit the New Zealand students again this year and continue spreading a love of science through magic for years to come.

“A lot of times science is associated with geekiness, but … hopefully I can get to kids before they’re prejudiced against science,” Smith said.

As for those students who think they just can’t be scientists, Smith said everyone has to be wrong sometime.

“Failing is part of being a scientist. … A bad scientist is the one who gives up too easy.”

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.