I know I can’t start a discussion about at-home chemistry without mentioning the (in)famous Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments.  Some overly dramatic people have called it a banned book – it isn’t, but it is a bit out of date and presents some experiments that aren’t exactly safe for unattended kids (or even adults) to perform.

Published in 1960 and updated in 1962 and 1963, and now widely available in pdf form on the internet, this book was an inspiration to many a home chemical tinkerer.

There are several basic safety flaws with the book that prevent me from recommending it as an experimental handbook. I found these in a 10-minute review:

• pipetting by mouth – a seriously bad no-no
• teaches you to make ammonia gas?!?!
• teaches you to make chlorine gas ?!!? seriously? WTF!!
• has you taste a weak NaOH solution – I prefer reading books that don’t try to poison me…
• shaking test tubes by putting your thumb over the opening and shaking – another bad no-no
• people sticking their fingers into boiling milk? what?

Things I do like about it:

• It is a great, concise (only 114 pages) background on basic chemical theory and history
• The majority of the experiments are good (but I disagree with the methods the authors use)

Homework assignment:

So, for homework, I assign everyone out there to skim through the Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments and find the most awesome examples of terrible safety and the most inspiring and interesting experiments and theories it discusses.  Discuss in the comments…

Low resolution image of the Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments courtesy of Wikipedia.org

Update:

Arrgh, I can’t believe I just noticed that NO ONE in this book wears any safety gear. There are no gloves, goggles, aprons.  These kids are doing chemistry in their Sunday best!!!  I don’t think the author mentions anything about real fire extinguishers either (but they do talk about how fire extinguishers work…).