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In 1951 there was a children's U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50

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Re: In 1951 there was a children's U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50

#51

Post by lutorm »

moylan wrote: post #42
lutorm wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Didn't everyone make "tin" soldiers? We had a supply of old metal types (they are basically made of lead, no idea where we found those) and made armies of them on the stove. You could buy molds of various kinds to make them in. I wonder how much lead we ingested in the process (and from playing with them)...

i seem to remember these been sold as multi part magazines even into the 80s here in ireland. checking online it looks like an irish site is still selling the molds. though when my brother was messing with them my father made sure we did it outdoors and with a breeze taking the fumes well away from the person pouring lead. so we've lost the hobby of lead soldiers but we've gained 3d printers. i think we've gained ove…

Prince August! Yes, those are the molds we used, too! (And I'm talking about the 80s, too. I'm not THAT old. ;-)

Whether we have gained overall is an interesting question. If kids really learn to design and make what they want on 3d printers, that would be awesome. But many of the "improvements" since then are unfortunately mostly black boxes meant for consumption, not exploration.

Re: In 1951 there was a children's U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50

#52

Post by jordan0day »

rdtsc wrote: post #19
jgrahamc wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm from the second half and had some pretty cool chemistry sets as a child. I've noticed recently that all the chemistry sets are really rubbish now. Where's my strip to magnesium to set fire to?

Yeah vinegar and soda is now the most exciting stuff you can get for kids' science experiments. Not many people mind kids playing contact sports, getting concussions, broken ligaments, but when it comes to stuff like this is "Oh, no! Hide all the science equipment, we don't want them to burn their little fingers on the Bunsen burners".

This is a really good point, actually. (I'm hypothesizing here) Since to so many people so much of what they call "science" is basically magic, all of it seems much too dangerous. Especially now that most things in a halfway decent chemistry kit are probably banned or closely scrutinized by the government.

Re: In 1951 there was a children's U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50

#53

Post by jpdoctor »

TomAnthony wrote: post #33
jpdoctor wrote: post #2

My grandfather worked for AC Gilbert, which made the Erector Set, and American Flyer trains. I had rather complete sets growing up, and couldn't figure out why my erector set and toy trains were so much better than everyone else's. But another toy was a lead casting kit: You would melt lead in a crucible, which would then pour into a mold. http://www.girdersandgears.com/kaster.html Never had the atomic energy kit, pr…

Melting lead in this way is still very common in Germany, where Bleigießen is practised by many families during New Years Eve in order to 'tell your future' (you just pour the lead into water to create a shape). Didn't notice any nuclear play sets though...! German: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleigießen English: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molybdomancy

That's awesome, and requires great research into the interpretation of lead blobs.

Re: In 1951 there was a children's U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50

#54

Post by rdtsc »

jordan0day wrote: post #52
rdtsc wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah vinegar and soda is now the most exciting stuff you can get for kids' science experiments. Not many people mind kids playing contact sports, getting concussions, broken ligaments, but when it comes to stuff like this is "Oh, no! Hide all the science equipment, we don't want them to burn their little fingers on the Bunsen burners".

This is a really good point, actually. (I'm hypothesizing here) Since to so many people so much of what they call "science" is basically magic, all of it seems much too dangerous. Especially now that most things in a halfway decent chemistry kit are probably banned or closely scrutinized by the government.

Exactly. Despite the official lip service of lamenting how we are falling behind in science, anyone finding you have beakers, Bunsen burners, and shelves of chemicals in your basement will likely report you as either a terrorist or an illegal drug maker. Science went from being boring and unpopular to being suspicious and dangerous.

Re: In 1951 there was a children's U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50

#55

Post by aidenn0 »

davidcuddeback wrote: post #23
jgrahamc wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm from the second half and had some pretty cool chemistry sets as a child. I've noticed recently that all the chemistry sets are really rubbish now. Where's my strip to magnesium to set fire to?

Before 9/11, my little sister built a cloud chamber for the science fair. This required using a small vile of Uranium, which my dad was able to obtain for her from a nearby university. This didn't require any extraordinary connections or security clearance. I think he just phoned up a professor and drove to the university to meet him. This was probably 2000 or 2001. I suspect this wouldn't be possible now, after 9/11…

We used to use orange fiesta-ware when we needed a source of ionizing radiation; they used uranium as a colorant for quite some time.

Re: In 1951 there was a children's U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50

#56

Post by exDM69 »

lutorm wrote: post #39
slavak wrote: post #7

Apparently the first half of the 20th century was fucking awesome [1]. [1] http://www.cracked.com/article_19481_the-8-most-wildly-irres...

What a bunch of overblown crap... "wildly irresponsible" my ass! It's perfectly safe holding a piece of red-hot glass, as long as you don't hold the red-hot part . But since the red-hot part is also the part that's in the Bunsen burner, you generally don't do that. Glass has such low thermal conductivity that the part that's not heated stays at room temperature. Edit: I "played" with most of those as a "kid" (the rad…

Exactly! These were the kids that grew up to be the adults who flew to the moon and engineered the internet.

Re: In 1951 there was a children's U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50

#57

Post by ohashi »

powertower wrote: post #44
pavel_lishin wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An official lead casting kit? That's pretty neat. I just pulled cells out of discarded car batteries that I found while playing on a construction site, and melted it in bottle caps over the kitchen stove. I cannot believe my parents let me do ANY of that. The joys of growing up in the USSR.

When I was growing up in the former USSR, we used to sometimes enter the decommissioned parts of a nuclear plant / research station. One day we found what was a deuterium/water solution ("heavy water") in a storage locker and took several gulps of it to prove something stupid. Beat that!

I'd rather not. You win.

Re: In 1951 there was a children's U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50

#58

Post by commieneko »

I remember similar science kits from the early '60s. I had my eye on a set that had a cloud chamber, but I'm pretty sure it was not this set. Science toys were all the rage. There were several series of science kits I would buy, my favorite was one that built a small electric motor that could also be re-ranged into a generator.

Re: In 1951 there was a children's U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50

#59

Post by timr »

jpdoctor wrote: post #17
pavel_lishin wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An official lead casting kit? That's pretty neat. I just pulled cells out of discarded car batteries that I found while playing on a construction site, and melted it in bottle caps over the kitchen stove. I cannot believe my parents let me do ANY of that. The joys of growing up in the USSR.

> I just pulled cells out of discarded car batteries that I found while playing on a construction site Dodging the acid in the lead-acid batteries?! Now that is dedication. I raise my cup (of coffee) to you in honor of your superior talent for self-destruction.

If the batteries are dead/discharged, the pH is fairly high.

In any case, you can easily neutralize it with a little baking soda.

Re: In 1951 there was a children's U-238 Atomic Energy Lab playset for $50

#60

Post by rdtsc »

brudgers wrote: post #50
rdtsc wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah vinegar and soda is now the most exciting stuff you can get for kids' science experiments. Not many people mind kids playing contact sports, getting concussions, broken ligaments, but when it comes to stuff like this is "Oh, no! Hide all the science equipment, we don't want them to burn their little fingers on the Bunsen burners".

My child got one of these vinegar and soda rocket kits a few years ago. You can shoot it up all day long for a dollar. The best part is that you set it up and back away quickly - no Estes electronic remote control firing - because they do tip over and fire sideways from time to time. http://www.amazon.com/Scientific-Explorers-Meteor-Rocket-Sci...

That is a cool toy. I wasn't talking specifically about them but rather commenting on how in the name of safety they have reduced chemistry lab sets to basically just vinegar + soda type things, thus sucking all the fun out of it.
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