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August 10, 2015

Stinks, Bangs and Booms: The Rise and Fall of the Chemistry Set

heyday-chemset.jpg

Highly interactive but very illuminating site.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at August 10, 2015 5:35 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.

Your Say

Wanted to buy one for our son back in about 1992 like what I had but they too have been neutered and almost completely useless. I found a pdf manual of a 1960's model online and went and bought all the innards separately and added a few things I have learned since I had mine back then.

Todays kids chemistry sets are like todays playgrounds - mostly boring and vacant holes that the gov't throws boatloads of stolen money into.

Posted by: ghostsniper [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 10, 2015 8:32 PM

My first chemistry set, at about age 7 or 8, contained sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter as three of the chemicals. Try as I might, I could never get the proportions worked out, so the most I got from the mixture was a nice, smoky, fast-burning flame. Had a lot of fun experimenting with it, though.

Posted by: waltj [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 11, 2015 8:49 AM

What you needed were a handful of mothball crystals. Then your parents would have needed a new house.

Posted by: ghostsniper [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 11, 2015 9:43 AM

Actually, what I needed was what I got later in college--a roommate who was a chemistry major. That took things to a whole new level. Between his expertise in chemistry and mine in model rockets, we did some things that we'd go to jail for today. In fact, we probably could have back then as well. Fortunately, no one ever got hurt, and nobody's property except our own ever got damaged.

Posted by: waltj [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 11, 2015 10:56 AM

"Energetic materials" they call 'em.
The Anarchist cook book and a well-stocked hardware store and Bob's yer uncle.

My uncle Letsgo had some dynamite that started weeping so he decided to take it out in the country and blow it off.
He put the two sticks in the back of his Ford sedan and off he went. Off went the dynamite as well and when his ears stopped ringing he saw that he had a flatbed truck instead of a sedan.

Posted by: chasmatic [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 12, 2015 12:22 PM

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