| "Its only when you
realise that most of Holland is several metres below sea level, you begin
to understand the importance of water management systems and water engineering
expertise. We
all went to the Delta Expo which celebrates an incredible engineering project
to hold back the sea and prevent further loss of life through flooding." |
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"The really amazing
thing about this barrier is the fact that the Dutch people insisted it
be built in such a way so as to preserve the ecology and life around and
in the coastal inlets. The barrier was designed to fulfil their wishes,
working in a way that protects not only the Dutch people, but the sea life
as well." |
| "It
was an astonishing feat, requiring the finest minds to work on new ideas
and novel engineering concepts. The expo showed us everything about how
it was constructed. We had a bit of fun in the Waterworld there too. This
was a a place where an arrangement of light and water-effects formed a
strange and exotic environment for you to walk through. Great fun for kids
and adults alike. I loved it!" |
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"All this is very
important and relates to us amateur microscopists because without care
and concern, humankind so often seeks to control its environment at the
expense of other living forms. The Dutch water management systems set a
shining example of how to influence our environment for the benefit of
all life... including the micro-organisms inhabiting the sea." |
| "We returned to the
hotel and gathered together for dinner. Everybody was buzzing with conversation
- excited by the knowledge that the very next morning, we were off to Delft,
home of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (probably the world's greatest amateur microscopist
that ever lived!)" |
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"Larry
and I didn't go to the bar that night with the others. Instead we went
to our room and chatted together for hours about the future. We had been
having a difficult time together, because of me really, these last few
months. Anyway, I was just telling Larry about this uneasy feeling
I'd been getting recently... like something 'threatening' was lurking in
my immediate future, when I noticed he had fallen asleep. I didn't wish
to wake him so I decided to tell him later."
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