The first chemistry sets for children included dangerous substances like uranium dust and sodium cyanide, but all that has changed. Talk to people of a certain age about chemistry sets and a nostalgic glaze comes over their eyes. Stories of creating explosions in garden sheds and burning holes in tables are told and childhood is remembered as a mischievous adventure. Portable chemistry sets were first used in the 18th Century but it took more than 100 years before they became popular with children, partly prompted by a desire to recreate the coloured puffs of smoke used by conjurors. "It was part of a craze for what we call stage magic," says Salim Al-Gailani, historian of science...
0 Responses to Whatever happened to kids' chemistry sets?