Statistics and History:

We've been asked a number of times for statistics regarding the numbers of shows we've done, etc. So we decided to put it all up here at once. For more information, you can contact the Physics Van Coordinator at: PhysVan@uiuc.edu.

The Physics Van was created in the Spring of 1994 by Professor Mats Selen (a.k.a. "The Whys Guy"), together with a small group of University of Illinois students. Originally, most shows were done in Loomis Lab for (relatively) small groups of elementary and middle school students from Champaign-Urbana schools. Since then, our program has become almost entirely student organized and run. The majority of our shows are now done in elementary school gymnasiums. And we can now travel to schools as far as an hour's drive from Champaign-Urbana on a regular basis. We have also been part of special events around Illinois, in Wisconsin, and even as far as Colorado.

Some of the numbers that went into these statistics were estimated, so these figures may not be quite perfect.

 

All Together
Number of Shows: 572
Number of Kids: 90,805
Number of Adults: 12,014
Total Number of Smiles: 102,819

 

2009 (as of today)
Number of Shows: 32
Number of Kids: 5,313
Number of Adults: 1,641
Total Number of Smiles: 6,954

 

2008
Number of Shows: 40
Number of Kids: 5,427
Number of Adults: 1,062
Total Number of Smiles: 6,489

 

2007
Number of Shows: 30
Number of Kids: 2,597
Number of Adults: 718
Total Number of Smiles: 3,315

 

2006
Number of Shows: 26
Number of Kids: 11,310
Number of Adults: 2,295
Total Number of Smiles: 13,605

 

2005
Number of Shows: 23
Number of Kids: 4,938
Number of Adults: 442
Total Number of Smiles: 5,380

 

2004
Number of Shows: 19
Number of Kids: 4,952
Number of Adults: 266
Total Number of Smiles: 5,218

 

2003
Number of Shows: 44
Number of Kids: 9,362
Number of Adults: 938
Total Number of Smiles: 10,300

 

2002
Number of Shows: 73
Number of Kids: 10,408
Number of Adults: 1,160
Total Number of Smiles: 11,568

 

2001
Number of Shows: 75
Number of Kids: 10,231
Number of Adults: 1,595
Total Number of Smiles: 11,826

 

2000
Number of Shows: 45
Number of Kids: 5,868
Number of Adults: 1,052
Total Number of Smiles: 6,920

 

1999
Number of Shows: 22
Number of Kids: 4,105
Number of Adults: 235
Total Number of Smiles: 4,340

 

1998
Number of Shows: 28
Number of Kids: 4,463
Number of Adults: 233
Total Number of Smiles: 4,696

 

1997 (We are missing some data from 1997, so these numbers may be incomplete.)
Number of Shows: 44
Number of Kids: 5,150
Number of Adults: 58
Total Number of Smiles: 5,208

 

1996
Number of Shows: 17
Number of Kids: 2,110
Number of Adults: 74
Total Number of Smiles: 2,184

 

1995
Number of Shows: 29
Number of Kids: 2,811
Number of Adults: 123
Total Number of Smiles: 2,934

 

1994
Number of Shows: 25
Number of Kids: 1,760
Number of Adults: 122
Total Number of Smiles: 1,882

You can find out more about some individual shows by looking at our Pictures pages. We also have videotapes of a few selected shows. Unfortunately, some of our older records are fairly sketchy, but you are still welcome to contact us if you have other questions.

You may also want to look at our:
  • Complete List of Past Events
  • Past Calendars
  •  

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