4 ms·

Cool Science Tricks (2005)

121 points by tomthe 3y ago

JKCalhoun 3y ago
Many of these were common in the "science" books targeting younger audiences when I was growing up. No doubt if you examine each one of these kinds of tricks there are some that are better than others, but I think collectively these kinds of things sparked curiosity and caused children to start to look at the world differently, question things. It might also be argued that this is the start of the path towards either a pursuit of the sciences or at least science literacy. I hope that there is something replacing these (or science books for the younger set in general) because I would hate to think generations of kids are missing out on this kind of mental stimulation. Edit: Kenneth Swezey, as an example, had a number of "science trick" books many years ago; some of them a little more sophisticated and targeting more of a teen audience: https://archive.org/details/chemistrymagic00swez https://archive.org/details/chemistrymagic00swez https://archive.org/details/afterdinnerscien00swez/ https://archive.org/details/afterdinnerscien00swez/ https://archive.org/details/sciencemagic0000swez/ https://archive.org/details/sciencemagic0000swez/
extraduder_ire 3y ago
I like the idea of not putting them in any specific order. Really helps encourage scrolling through when many of the "tricks" don't have super appealing names.
stronglikedan 3y ago
Electromagnet should be on that list. It's the experiment that launched my interest (and won me a prize at the county fair). Safe too, since it can be done with a simple battery.
foobarian 3y ago
Does it bug anyone else that the word "science" is increasingly widely used to mean "tech demo"? Backyard science, science tricks, science f___ yeah, etc. I guess it's fine if it's for a greater good.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- pvg 3y ago
  This sort of thing has been referred to as science for a lot longer than than 'tech demo' has been around. https://victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/faraday2.html https://victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/faraday2.html
  - foobarian 3y ago
    "Domestic philosophy." Love it.
    - pvg 3y ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdeburg_hemispheres https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdeburg_hemispheres might be a fun clickhole to figure out what this was called in its time. Like, what was on the posters? the first section of whose book Technica Curiosa, titled Mirabilia Magdeburgica, was dedicated to von Guericke's work. The earliest reference to the celebrated Magdeburg hemispheres experiment is on page 39 of the Technica Curiosa, That title is certainly closer to "Tech Demos".
29athrowaway 3y ago
Or just rewatch Beakman's World.
dang 3y ago
Related I think. Others? The Book of Experiments (1958) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32115354 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32115354 - July 2022 (42 comments)

121 points by tomthe 3y ago

Many of these were common in the "science" books targeting younger audiences when I was growing up. No doubt if you examine each one of these kinds of tricks there are some that are better than others, but I think collectively these kinds of things sparked curiosity and caused children to start to look at the world differently, question things. It might also be argued that this is the start of the path towards either a pursuit of the sciences or at least science literacy. I hope that there is something replacing these (or science books for the younger set in general) because I would hate to think generations of kids are missing out on this kind of mental stimulation. Edit: Kenneth Swezey, as an example, had a number of "science trick" books many years ago; some of them a little more sophisticated and targeting more of a teen audience: https://archive.org/details/chemistrymagic00swez https://archive.org/details/chemistrymagic00swez https://archive.org/details/afterdinnerscien00swez/ https://archive.org/details/afterdinnerscien00swez/ https://archive.org/details/sciencemagic0000swez/ https://archive.org/details/sciencemagic0000swez/

extraduder_ire 3y ago

I like the idea of not putting them in any specific order. Really helps encourage scrolling through when many of the "tricks" don't have super appealing names.

stronglikedan 3y ago

Electromagnet should be on that list. It's the experiment that launched my interest (and won me a prize at the county fair). Safe too, since it can be done with a simple battery.

foobarian 3y ago

Does it bug anyone else that the word "science" is increasingly widely used to mean "tech demo"? Backyard science, science tricks, science f___ yeah, etc. I guess it's fine if it's for a greater good.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
pvg 3y ago
This sort of thing has been referred to as science for a lot longer than than 'tech demo' has been around. https://victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/faraday2.html https://victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/faraday2.html
- foobarian 3y ago
  "Domestic philosophy." Love it.
  - pvg 3y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdeburg_hemispheres https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdeburg_hemispheres might be a fun clickhole to figure out what this was called in its time. Like, what was on the posters? the first section of whose book Technica Curiosa, titled Mirabilia Magdeburgica, was dedicated to von Guericke's work. The earliest reference to the celebrated Magdeburg hemispheres experiment is on page 39 of the Technica Curiosa, That title is certainly closer to "Tech Demos".

29athrowaway 3y ago

Or just rewatch Beakman's World.

dang 3y ago

Related I think. Others? The Book of Experiments (1958) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32115354 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32115354 - July 2022 (42 comments)