3 ms·
You 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 tr
by erroneousfunk 12y ago
You 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.