The life and work of a Galloway mathematical genius will be celebrated at a special event in Parton next month.
And organisers hope the James Clerk Maxwell Family Science Festival will spark a drive for a lasting tribute to his life and work.
Hundreds are expected to attend the March 14 jamboree at Parton Kirk where the great man is buried.
Parton Village Hall will also host activities on the big day which will have a strong focus on children.
The Threave Partnership, created by David James and Heart of Galloway Visitor Centre manager Sarah-Jane Allsop, is the project managing the event for Parton Community Council.
Mr James said: “The festival will let lots of young people know that such a famous person came from our small rural area.
“We want to create something permanent around Parton Kirk – a James Clerk Maxwell Centre.”
Festival attractions include a pop-up planetarium, hands on experiments and Professor Pumpernickel’s Science Show.
A make and take home workshop and a schools photography competition also features in the programme.
The event will be followed by an evening of talks on colour and light by Ben Craven, who helped design Glasgow Science Centre, and award-winning Castle Douglas photographer Kim Ayres.
Mr James said: “It will be similar in style to the Dumfries Science Festival.
“If we can replicate a bit of that atmosphere it will be a successful day.
James Clerk Maxwell (1831-79) devised the theory of electromagnetic radiation and predicted the existence of radio waves.
“I stand on the shoulders of Maxwell,” he said.
