92-year-old Colorado physicist still helping kids find joy in science

GRAND JUNCTION — Gears are whirring. Bells are dinging. Levers are snapping. Air is whooshing through pressure tubes. Plastic bottle “rockets” are blasting off. Bubbles are piling up. And magnets are doing their push-pull thing in every which way at the Eureka! McConnell Science Museum.

Kiddos dart from display to display taking it all in with busy little fingers just itching to grab on to every moving widget, gadget and gizmo — as it is meant to be.

In the middle of the ruckus, the center’s 92-year-old namesake taps around with a sturdy walking stick that, not surprisingly, has a compass embedded in the top. He stands out in his signature crisp chinos and button-down shirt with an ungeeky single pen in the pocket. His shoes are cushy, slip-on sneakers meant to work…