3 ms·
> He wrote of how, as a boy, he and his friends bought a lump of sodium from the local chemicals supplier... Whenever I read stuff like I this, it saddens me j
by TheCraiggers 12y ago
> He wrote of how, as a boy, he and his friends bought a lump of sodium from the local chemicals supplier...
Whenever I read stuff like I this, it saddens me just how much safety and common sense have eroded the spirit of scientific experimentation. These days, the most reactive chemical in a chemistry set is sodium bicarbonate.
- erroneousfunk 12y agoYou can still purchase sodium from chemical suppliers, schools just aren't quite as relaxed about letting kids play with it. Even college students can get in trouble: http://tech.mit.edu/V127/N37/sodiumdrop.html http://tech.mit.edu/V127/N37/sodiumdrop.html I doubt throwing a chunk of sodium into the Charles really helped further "scientific experimentation" all that much... It did get a lot of beach cleanup volunteers injured, and caused significant property damage, though.
- TheCraiggers 12y agoPerhaps "scientific experimentation" was a bit much. But still, I can easily imagine that incident kindling the yearning for knowledge in a young man, perhaps setting him on the path of being a scientist. At the very least, I think it's a somewhat safe bet it influenced his study of sodium later in life, and we did gain some knowledge from his studies. I am of course not saying every kid that plays with sodium will become interested in science, just that perhaps this one wouldn't have, otherwise.
- erroneousfunk 12y agoDid you read the article? "That incident" was a frathouse at MIT dumping sodium into the river... If a kid gets into MIT, gets into a fraternity, and doesn't have some sort of scientific yearning kindled in him, I really don't think sodium in the Charles is going to do it.