Chemistry set Kickstarter looks to recapture the wonder of days gone by

Geek.com ^ | Nov 14, 2013 | Graham Templeton

[SunkenCiv]

If I were ten years old again, I’d be begging for a set like this. :’)

[Fresh Wind]

The infamous Gilbert Atom Bomb puzzle. The "bombs" were little capsules, weighted at one end. The goal was to get both bombs to fit into holes marked Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Cool then, not PC now.

[TXnMA]

I had the same result with a newly-mixed batch of black powder. Hadn’t ground the charcoal well enough, and a spark jumped from the test pile to the batch pile. Did it in the feed room of our chicken house; I exited quickly through the window...

[VermiciousKnid]

I wasn’t brave enough to actually concoct something that would explode, but my friends and I DID make something that emitted giant clouds of purple smoke into our kitchen.

God only knows what it was...I wish I could remember what we put into it; I’m sure some Chemistry FReeper could tell me what we made.

Regards,

[Charles Martel]

Since we can't post stuff from The Onion here on FR, I suspect most everyone on this thread would enjoy searching their archives for an article titled:

"Science Guy Bill Nye Killed In Massive Vinegar/Baking-Soda Explosion"

Check it out - it's quite entertaining.

[Ray76]

A little older. The sets now make a particular thing, I don’t care for that.

[PeteB570]

Then there is

CUAAUGU

[ifinnegan]

Thanks so much for that link.

Can’t thank you enough.

[EEGator]

Didn’t think I’d see any mRNA base pairing on FR today. :)

[ifinnegan]

CUAAUGU is backwards.

5’-GATTACA-3’

3’-CUAAUGU-5’

[HiTech RedNeck]

that’s just wicked...

[HiTech RedNeck]

Here’s a link, I think links are still OK

http://www.theonion.com/articles/science-guy-bill-nye-killed-in-massive-vinegarbaki,288/

[Covenantor]

Back in my day the real future chemists were studying math.

Late bloomers huh?

Got my big Gilbert set while in the third grade in the fifties, we didn't know about mathematics, just arithmetic. But our reading skills were just fine. Enough to follow the cook book instructions for starters.

Grew some impressive strings of copper sulfate crystals, made gunpowder , a kind of sparkler, and twisted paper fuses, stink bombs. But exploring the uncharted regions of the Gilbert Chemistry set lead to some vile smelling dark compounds cooked up in the provided test tubes using the little alcohol lamp. The resultant slag defied all cleaning and scraping efforts.

I did discover that a certain combination of chemicals applied as a paste to a stainless steel butter knife and heated red hot over a gas burner resulted in a blue black finish which I found rather pleasing. A good thing, as I was forced to contemplate my discovery at every meal for a month, while having to use the back of a teaspoon to spread butter.

Pity that I didn't write down the mix proportions as decades later I spied the same finish on commercial door hardware.

Good fun for a long time.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

It's a great book, isn't it?

I am a chemist, and I wish I had that book when I was a kid.

[gura]

The Atomic Boy Scout

[ifinnegan]

Yes. It should be fun over this Thanksgiving gathering.

I am a “biochemist without a license”.

Growing up I had nothing like this or these chemistry sets.

[ifinnegan]

Any how, this is a great thread, but as far as this Kick Starter campaign, naw.

You know the motivation of anyone calling a science hobby store the HMS Beagle.

[Carry_Okie]

Impressively twisted.
Definitely dry.

[Carry_Okie]

I want you to know that you changed a life yet to come with that post. I’m sending that book to my daughter, who aspires to be an awesome mom. Thank you.

[WVKayaker]

I think I had the erector set. Is ‘76 your model year?

I had an erector set. Her name was Candace, and she had quite a set!