Back in the days, a nuclear Iran was no threat, nor was Three-Mile Island. In fact, atomic energy was all the rave. So much so that you could by your radioactive material in the toy store. In 1951 and 1952, A.C. Gilbert sold a complete Atomic Energy Lab! It consisted of:
1. U-239 Geiger radiation counter.
2. Electroscope to measure radioactivity of different substances.
3. Spinthariscope to watch "live" radioactive disintegration.
4. Wilson Cloud Chamber to see paths of electrons & alpha particles at 10k mps
5. Three very low-level radioactive sources (Alpha, Beta, Gamma).
6. Four samples of Uranium-bearing ores
7. Nuclear Spheres (used to visual build models of molecules)
8. The book "Prospecting for Uranium"
9. The "Gilbert Atomic Energy Manual"
10. The comic book "Learn How Dagwood Splits the Atom"
11. Three "Winchester" Batteries (size "C")
It cost $49.95 -- a lot of money in those days (oh, glory days). One such set was sold at an Internet auction for almost $7,000 last year.
I wonder if my boys' transformer toys will go for loads of money when we are old. You know, something to retire on.
No?
Yah. I didn't think so, either.
I could probably put most of that together for you -- though a scintillation counter instead of a Geiger might be easier -- and throw in instructions on how to make a Kearney fallout meter too.
Except for point 5, which I would never never never be able to get my hands on. Never.
Posted by: Carlos | December 03, 2007 at 04:30 PM
Right.
And you know. They sold it in toy stores.
Gotta love that.
Posted by: claudia | December 03, 2007 at 04:33 PM
You know how they used to fit shoes in the U.S., right?
http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/shoefittingfluor/shoe.htm
I had a nice and only somewhat toxic chemistry set as a kid. Ferricyanide and not cyanide proper (for making prussian blue), sulfur, magnesium strips. I'm not saying there wasn't anything dangerous, but you'd have to work at it.
And that was bowlderized from what I would read about in chemistry manuals from the 1950s and 1960s. Melting lead alloys in Mom's oven!
(This sort of protection is not going to stop any bright determined kid, although it might get them on the DEA's watch list. I once met a guy who made, must have been TNT, in his high school science lab. TNT is a little shocky. When I met him, he was blind and had the Krukenberg procedure performed on his arms. Then there's the guy who tried building a nuclear reactor as a teenager, who is still obsessed with the idea, and has the radiation scars to prove it.)
On the other hand, you can order some very cool biology kits these days, including some with DNA experiments. I think I sent y'all a catalog on it once. And it's not that hard to extract crude DNA, photosynthetic pigments, that sort of thing.
There are also a number of good no-solder electronic kits too.
I will not talk about model rocketry, although I do have a brushfire story.
Posted by: Carlos | December 03, 2007 at 05:53 PM
A school friend of mine blew himself up with some explosive chemistry experiment. He lost his sight, he lost his hearing, he lost both hands, and after three days, he lost his life.
I'm very wary of chemistry sets...
DNA experiments, now. That I think is just cool.
Posted by: claudia | December 03, 2007 at 06:26 PM
My grandfather lost an eye messing with fireworks in a can as a kid. It's one reason why I exist -- he was 4-F for WWII.
I think I could put together a safe chemistry set. It's something I've given some thought to, now that most of my friends have kids, because I think it's a worthwhile hobby.
The real problem is to teach safety. I mean, I could go to a pharmacy and a hardware store right now, pick up two items, and make, well you probably don't want to know.
But I don't.
Posted by: Carlos | December 03, 2007 at 07:09 PM