I donāt have the loot for this.
But I wish I did.
Having read Oliver Sacksā Uncle Tungsten, it might be a lovely gesture to send one of these to Sacks - if it is ready in the next few weeks before Sacks succumbs to his cancer.
Just a thought.
Some lawyer somewhere is rubbing his hands with glee.
We need a lawyer-specific bioweapon. Then we could have nice things again.
Weāve been dreaming since Henry IV part 2, but it never becomes reality.
Woops - Henry VI. Who knew?
If I were still 10 (and had the money), or had a kid that age, I would back this in an instant.
i thought tagonās toughs had an open contract on the legal collective.
This is a great idea, and although a bit too pricey for me to justify, I couldnāt agree more with the premise. Vinegar and sodium bicarbonate does not a chemistry set make.
The Internet has been a great substitute though. Iāve been able to buy all sorts of chemicals to teach my kids the joys of chemistry, although purchases for some of the more exothermic reactions mean Iām almost certainly on a watch list. That ability to search and buy chemicals, along with āedutainmentā YouTube channels (like āKing of Randomā) have meant if you have some basic chemistry, itās relatively simple to DIY fun experiments and still teach something.
At one point Mr 10 yo showed his teacher his own YouTube vid about the two us making thermite and liquefying an aluminium frying pan. The looks Iāve got ever since have been well worth the price of admission.
Selfishly: Iād prefer he get a few more essays out.
Todayās was excellent.
As a kid the main thing I hoped for in chemistry kits was pure Na, which you could get in wax sealed stoppered vials.
My grandfather was a chemical engineer for Kodak and Xerox and heād get me stuff like that, mercury, ammonia nitrate, potassium nitrate, sodium cyanide, uranium dust, radium, etc. The kind of stuff you probably get on a watch list for even mentioning in a comment on the internet these daysā¦~sighs~
Of course if I was going to have any of that stuff then I had to learn to blow my own glass lab ware and handle it properly. He was old school, and where I got my smarts from. Born in a time and house with no electricity, indoor plumbing, cars, phones, radio, tv, computers, etc. he was programming computers in his older years. It takes a supple mind to adapt to that world shifting level of change in your lifetime. I miss that man.
Kodak actually had their OWN working nuclear reactor on siteā¦super coolā¦
Golden age of home chemistry kits:
Last weekend I staffed a booth at the Salem Mini Maker Faire. Which was quiet and unremarkable, but for the setting: A kiddie science museum founded by the Gilbert estate.
Gilbert popularized Erector sets, had a line of toy trains, and apropos this discussion, some wicked chemistry sets.
When I was a kid I had one of the higher end chemistry sets - I think it had 16 elements and 64 compounds. It was really disappointing until I started adding things from under the kitchen sink. Then it became my favorite thing. Drano, chlorine bleach, ammonia, white phosphorous from match tips, etc.
I donāt think the avatar helps your case.
PS You have very lucky children.
It would be misleading to leave the impression itās all for their benefit. 
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