By Town Crier Staff Report

If you’re looking for something a little off the beaten track to do this weekend, you might want to consider attending the second annual Historical Science Fair, put on by the Bay Area English Regency Society (BAERS).

The event is scheduled 1-5 p.m., Sunday, at the Los Altos Youth Center, 1 N. San Antonio Road.

The Historical Science Fair is a science fair as it might have been in the 1800s, using only science that was known up to 1830. The event demonstrates how far science has progressed over the past 200 years and provides a perspective on how much is left to learn.

After the fair, there will be a potluck, 5-7 p.m., followed by an informal vintage dance, taught and called by Alan Winston, 7-9 p.m., with live music by the Natural Philosophy Players.

BAERS is a group of scholars, hobbyists, costumers and dancers who enjoy exploring the world as it existed approximately 200 years ago, just after the United States became an independent nation, said member Vanessa Schnatmeier. The group was founded in 1985 as an offshoot of a group in Los Angeles that focused specifically on the literature and dance of England in the early 1800s, the world of Jane Austen. BAERS, however, soon expanded its focus to include costuming workshops, historical dance lessons, music and theater outings, literary readings, grand balls and, most recently, science fairs.

BAERS plans presentations or exhibits on historical scents and perfumes, leeches and bloodletting, astronomy, rocketry, the first computer, canned food, women in science, Mary Shelley and Frankenstein, and a volcano exhibit.

An “Inventor’s Challenge” and a do-it-yourself section will provide hands-on participation.

Schnatmeier said last year’s science fair included presentations on archaeology, comets, the Lewis and Clark expedition, the earth’s core, the sun, mathematics, phrenology, static electricity, the mysteries of the East and volcanoes.

“There was even a presentation on the scientific importance of a good stuffed ham recipe,” Schnatmeier said.

Even though this is billed as a science fair, the primary goal for the day will be to have fun, Schnatmeier said. The organizers included projects both serious and silly, since, as the call for proposals said, “the committee appreciates that the greatest scientific minds were ridiculed in their time.”

Admission to the fair only is $5 in advance, $8 at the door; dance only, $10 in advance, $12 at the door; all-day, $15 advance, $20 at the door.

For more information call 365-2913, or e-mail carolyn@worldpassage.net or vanessa@liveavatar.com.