In the 1960’s, parents didn’t suck as much as they do now, so a chemistry book that could potentially blow up your house was given only to children who proved they could be responsible. Either that, or parents had better life-insurance policies on their kids than they do now, I’m not sure.
Anyway, thanks to the internet, any backwoods crotch-fruit can download it and start their own meth lab thanks to the Golden Books many of us grew up with.
According Wikipedia:
The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments was a children’s chemistry book written in the 1960s by Robert Brent and illustrated by Harry Lazarus and published by Western Publishing in their Golden Books series. Many of the experiments contained in the book are now considered highly dangerous for unsupervised children, and would not appear in a modern children’s chemistry book. OCLC lists only 126 copies of this book in libraries worldwide. It was said that the experiments and information contained herein were too dangerous for the general public[citation needed].
About.Com claims the book was banned – I haven’t been able to find anything that supports that claim, but I do know you’ll have to pony up anywhere from $70-$200 on Amazon to buy it used, depending on the book’s condition. Author of the About.Com article, Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D., says “It is sort of funny that a book that is banned from the public library is legal to download and read, but it’s true.”
The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments is an excellent book for science-minded young geeks, preferably one who hasn’t been scribbling a pre-teen version of their manifesto on the inside of their Trapper Keeper. Obviously, you should read this book cover to cover (or page one to page done of the PDF, that is) and determine whether or not your wee nipperkin can handle it. Take the time to do some of the trickier ones with your kids – nothing bonds a parent and child as much as almost blowing up the garage together. Seriously though.
The activities in this book are fantastic, fun, easy and some could easily be solo projects, but it’s up to you to guide tiny hands and developing minds on the tougher ones, the ones containing fire and combustible materials, etc. If you don’t know that already, your kid doesn’t need this book, he’s back behind the outhouse making his first meth lab anyway.
Download your copy now, before the censorship police make that go away too.
Obviously, Snipe.Net and the Snipe.Net Evil Empire are completely, 100% and utterly not at fault if you fuck something up and lose your house/limbs/etc. Use this entirely at your own risk, and don’t be a knob.
