Happy birthday, Harvard!

Harvard celebrated its 375th birthday on October 14, 2011. To kick off the evening, SEAS hosted a party in Maxwell Dworkin for students, faculty, and staff. Outside, it was pouring down with rain, but inside, the community enjoyed Octoberfest-themed food, warm company, and a suave jazz band.

Nearby, in Pierce Hall, SEAS hosted a Networks event for alumni and friends, featuring a special "Science & Cooking" demonstration. The theme of the evening's demo was the physics behind classic (and innovative) cocktails.

Professor David Weitz, who teaches the undergraduate course "Science & Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to the Science of Soft Matter," spoke about the course's goals, teaching strategies, challenges, and outcomes.

TF John McGee explained that, in his tongue-in-cheek opinion, a root beer float is "a deeply flawed beverage" as it is cloudy and brown. McGee went on to demonstrate a very sophisticated recipe for a clear, carbonated, "root beer float"-flavored cocktail.

The second demonstration involved making a solid, powdered cocktail, using tapioca maltodextrin. The combination of liquid alcohol with the solid powder only works if the alcohol used is sufficiently strong, he explained; otherwise, the water turns it to mush. Using 190-proof Everclear, he produced a spoonful of powdered vodka tonic.

Head TF Naveen Sinha and lab director Héloïse Vilaseca explained the science and process behind the gin-fizz foam, a concoction based on egg whites. The fourth demonstration, by preceptor Pia Sörensen, was a tart combination of vermouth and grapefruit jelly.

Later in the evening, SEAS' most dedicated and spirited students, faculty, staff, and administrators gathered to prepare for the rainy parade.

They painted their faces and hair with glow-in-the-dark gel, while their light-up t-shirts flashed the SEAS shield. Dean Cherry Murray led the charge, with raincoat and umbrella, to Tercentenary Theatre to join the the other Harvard schools and undergraduate Houses in the festivities.

The SEAS LED-shirts were by far one of the biggest hits of the evening, as many of the SEAS paraders mentioned the multiple offers they received to literally buy the shirts off their backs.

All photos can be viewed here.

Photos by Caroline Perry, Michelle Borkin, Ros Reid, Hugo Van Vuuren, and Fawwaz Habbal.