Rediscovering Things of Science
For many years, the Science Service
produced a monthly series of science kits called "Things of Science", available
by subscription. When I was a kid (in the 60s), I subscribed to
Things of Science for several years. I suspect that many of us who
chose careers in the sciences found at least part of our inspiration
in those blue boxes that arrived in the mail every month (well, almost
every month; sometimes we'd get manila envelopes, filled with stuff
that wouldn't fit in the boxes). Each kit ("unit") had a booklet of
experiments, and usually everything needed to perform them.
On this page
The original mission of the Science Service, a nonprofit organization founded
in 1921 by newspaper publisher E. W. Scripps (1854-1926) and
still active today as publishers of Science News, was to educate the public
about science, principally as a news service, by providing articles describing
current research to newspapers and popular magazines. The Things of Science
program, which was launched in November 1940, was the brainchild of Watson Davis (1896-1967),
director of the Science Service from 1928 until 1967.
Interviewed in a 1946 Wall Street Journal article, Davis traced the beginnings
of Things of Science to samples of new materials sent out with Science Service
news stories as an attention-getter. "It was [Davis] who dreamed up the little
packages that make every man a museum head who wants to be. The first ones
were sent to newspaper editors to help sell natural science stories," wrote
Herbert Nichols, science editor of the Christian Science Monitor, in
a 1952 article about Things of Science.
Early in the program's history, the emphasis shifted to young people. Already
in 1946, the Science Service estimated that half of its subscribers were school
groups and science clubs, and the other half individuals. Things of Science
brought journalists, teachers, and students alike in direct contact with not
only the ideas but also samples of the actual stuff (unusual and often new
materials) that researchers were inventing or studying.
The early boxes were light brown. The first of the familiar blue boxes
appeared between October 1943 and September 1944. The wartime units provide
intimate and often startling perspectives on their period. The samples in
the Unusual Fabrics Unit of September
1942 were described as materials "of special value now because of war shortages
and of promise for the days after the war when industrial progress will usher
in many new products;" how must it have felt to handle and study these swatches
of otherwise unattainable luxuries? A year later,
the Cork Products Unit recruited
subscribers to a grand project to survey the US for wild cork oaks, since the
supply of Spanish cork was uncertain during World War II and finding a native
supply was a priority.
Since the program relied on donated materials, the Science Service
limited the number of subscriptions, initially to 1,000, but increasing
to 5,000 (with a waiting list) in 1944, 7,000 in 1946, and 12,000 in 1952.
In 1957, support for the program allowed the Science Service to
expand the number of subscribers again, as noted in this
flyer about the program.
The blue boxes I remember from the 60s were full of things to study, things
to build, and experiments to try. Some boxes contained things I had seen
before, but never really noticed. Others contained things I had never seen (a
polypropylene hinge, made of a single
piece of plastic, that could flex hundreds of thousands of times without
breaking; a silkworm's cocoon, the size of a jelly bean, made of a strand of
silk a kilometer long; a diffraction grating; copper ore; polarizers; flexible
magnets). Subscriptions were cheap even by the standards of the time, which
was a good thing since I had very little money to spend. I remember saving up
a quarter every week for four months to get my subscription.
The Science Service produced and distributed Things of Science for about 40
years, through 1980. In 1981, the Science Service transferred its rights in
the program to an independent company that produced additional units until at
least 1989. The owner during at least part of this period was Andrew
E. Svenson, Jr. (1939-2005), whose father was a noted
author of children's books. The Science Service has reacquired rights to
Things of Science and may revive the program at some time in the future.
The archives of the Smithsonian Institution contain a large collection of
Science Service records. Designated Record Unit 7091, this collection is
indexed in a finding aid.
(Among its treasures is a collection of
photographs taken by Watson Davis at the famous Scopes "monkey trial" in
1925.) I have not had an opportunity to examine the collection, but the
finding aid suggests that at least 10 of the 457 boxes of records contain
historical material relating to the Things of Science program. For example,
one of these boxes is recorded as containing: Box 306, folder 10:
England - Science News Letter, "THINGS of
Science," and Science Talent Search, 1948. Efforts to duplicate
Science Service activities in England.
As noted below, an independent UK-based Things
of Science program appeared during the mid-1960s.
On 10 January 2008, the Science Service became the
Society for Science and
the Public.
First, some general information I've been able to glean from looking
at many units. The first 338 units (created between 1940 and 1968)
were consecutively numbered, although the numbers did not appear in
the first 20 (possibly as many as 22) units. An extra unit, numbered
25A (Nylon Monofilament Unit), was issued together with unit 25 (Resin
Bonded Plywood Unit), and subscribers apparently received both units
together in one envelope. Units issued in 1969 and later years were
not numbered, and it can sometimes be difficult to establish even the
year of their production. The mailing labels on most units indicate
the expiration date of the subscriber's subscription, and not the date
when the unit was produced or mailed. Both 1-year and 2-year
subscriptions were offered at various times, so it is reasonable to
assume that the production date of an unknown unit was at some time
during the two years prior to the mailing label date. The copyright
date on the booklet indicates the year (and in some cases, the month)
of production. The table below indicates the production dates, where
known; units were usually received by subscribers during the month
following the production date, but sometimes much later (since it was
possible to order extra units when available). The dates for the
unnumbered units have been discovered from a variety of clues, but
there is some uncertainty about them and most of the unnumbered units
are only dated by year.
Certain topics, such as aerodynamics, chemical models, computation, crystallization,
fossils,
geometric models, optical illusions, probability, and surface tension, appeared
on multiple occasions. A new collection of seeds was something to anticipate
in February most years. Typically, the booklets were revised and new
experiments were added whenever a title reappeared.
At the end of the table below, I've listed in italics titles of units
that I haven't examined myself, for which the dates and in some cases the
titles are uncertain. In a few cases, I found these titles in the booklets
provided with later units; others have been sent to me by readers of this page
(see below) or have been found in references elsewhere on the web.
Unit number | Date | Subject |
[1] | 11/40 |
[2] | 12/40 |
|
[3] | 1/41 | Fingerprint Unit |
[4] | 2/41 | Fabrics |
[5] | 3/41 | Meteorites |
[6] | 4/41 | Synthetic Rubber Unit |
[7] | 5/41 | Bimetallic Unit |
[8] | 6/41 | Fossils Unit |
[9] | 7/41 |
[10] | 8/41 |
[11] | 9/41 |
[12] | 10/41 |
[13] | 11/41 |
[14] | 12/41 | Paper Packaging Unit |
|
[15] | 1/42 | Transparent Packaging Unit |
[16] | 2/42 |
[17] | 3/42 |
[18] | 4/42 | Seeds of Medicinal and Condiment Plants |
[19] | 5/42 | Fern Fossil Unit |
[20] | 6/42 | Treated Wood and Cloth Unit |
[21] | 7/42 |
[22] | 8/42 |
23 | 9/42 | Unusual Fabrics Unit |
24 | 10/42 | Oyster Unit |
25 | 11/42 | Resin Bonded Plywood Unit |
25A | 11/42 | Nylon Monofilament Unit |
26 | 12/42 |
|
27 | 1/43 |
28 | 2/43 |
29 | 3/43 |
30 | 4/43 | Lodestone Magnetic Unit |
31 | 5/43 | Oil Shale Unit |
32 | 6/43 | Coins Unit |
33 | 7/43 | Insects Unit |
34 | 8/43 | Rayon Unit |
35 | 9/43 | Cork Products |
36 | 10/43 |
37 | 11/43 | Unusual Paper and Sheeting Unit |
38 | 12/43 | Felt Unit |
|
39 | 1/44 | Textile Identification Unit |
40 | 2/44 |
41 | 3/44 |
42 | 4/44 | Rubber Plants Unit |
43 | 5/44 | Spice Unit |
44 | 6/44 | Cotton |
45 | 7/44 | Dehydrated Food Unit |
46 | 8/44 | War Rubber Unit |
47 | 9/44 | Lignin Unit |
48 | 10/44 | Sweetness Unit |
49 | 11/44 | Volcanic Unit |
50 | 12/44 | Upholstery Unit |
|
51 | 1/45 | Steel Unit |
52 | 2/45 | Coal Unit |
53 | 3/45 | Sprouting Seeds Unit |
54 | 4/45 | Coal Byproducts |
55 | 5/45 | Coffee Unit |
56 | 6/45 | Lithium |
57 | 7/45 | Nylon Unit |
58 | 8/45 | Talc Unit |
59 | 9/45 | Perching Plants Unit |
60 | 10/45 | Home and Office Unit |
61 | 11/45 | Tricky Minerals Unit |
62 | 12/45 | Glass Lens Unit |
|
63 | 1/46 | Sound Recording Unit |
64 | 2/46 | Petroleum |
65 | 3/46 | Rope Unit |
66 | 4/46 | Bread Grains |
67 | 5/46 |
68 | 6/46 |
69 | 7/46 | Blast-Furnace Slag Unit |
70 | 8/46 | Petroleum Products Unit |
71 | 9/46 | Insecticides |
72 | 10/46 | Ball and Roller Bearing Unit |
73 | 11/46 |
74 | 12/46 |
|
75 | 1/47 | Chicle Unit |
76 | 2/47 | Ramie Unit |
77 | 3/47 |
78 | 4/47 | Petrified Wood |
79 | 5/47 |
80 | 6/47 | Cotton Unit |
81 | 7/47 | Vegetable Dye Unit |
82 | 8/47 | Vinyl Plastic Film Unit |
83 | 9/47 | Housing Materials Unit |
84 | 10/47 | Tree Products Unit |
85 | 11/47 | Vinyl Resin Fiber Unit |
86 | 12/47 | Phosporescence Unit |
|
87 | 1/48 | Dry Cell Unit |
88 | 2/48 | New Flower Seeds Unit |
89 | 3/48 | Electronics Unit |
90 | 4/48 | Impregnated Paper Unit |
91 | 5/48 | Coffee Byproducts Unit |
92 | 6/48 | Lightweight Aggregate |
93 | 7/48 | Cellulose Plastics |
94 | 8/48 | Sand |
95 | 9/48 | Specialized Textiles Unit |
96 | 10/48 | Fungicide Unit |
97 | 11/48 | Tablets, Capsules, Pills Unit |
98 | 12/48 | Color Unit |
|
99 | 1/49 | Magnetic Unit |
100 | 2/49 | Disease-Resistant Plants Unit |
101 | 3/49 | Silk Unit |
102 | 4/49 | Geometric Models Unit |
103 | 5/49 | Stainless Steel Unit |
104 | 6/49 | Polyethylene Plastic Unit |
105 | 7/49 | Stone Unit |
106 | 8/49 | Soapless Soap Unit |
107 | 9/49 | Nylon Process Unit |
108 | 10/49 | Cold Rubber Unit |
109 | 11/49 | Mineral Hardness Unit |
110 | 12/49 | Sponge Unit |
|
111 | 1/50 | Oil Shale Unit |
112 | 2/50 | Kid Leather Unit |
113 | 3/50 | Straight Line Unit |
114 | 4/50 | 1950 Seed Unit |
115 | 5/50 | Iron Ore Unit |
116 | 6/50 | Taste Enhancers Unit |
117 | 7/50 | Portland Cement |
118 | 8/50 | Soybean Unit |
119 | 9/50 | New Fabrics Unit |
120 | 10/50 | Wetter Water Unit |
121 | 11/50 | Diazo Printing Paper Unit |
122 | 12/50 | Humidity Unit |
|
123 | 1/51 | Computation Unit |
124 | 2/51 | Seasoning Unit |
125 | 3/51 | 1951 Seed Unit |
126 | 4/51 | Basic Chemicals Unit |
127 | 5/51 | New Cotton Developments Unit |
128 | 6/51 | Wood Identification Unit |
129 | 7/51 | Sea Shell Unit |
130 | 8/51 | Color Vision Unit |
131 | 9/51 | Paper-Making Unit |
132 | 10/51 | Fertilizer Unit |
133 | 11/51 | Paper Chromatography Unit |
134 | 12/51 | Motion Picture Unit |
|
135 | 1/52 | Nut Tree Unit |
136 | 2/52 | 1952 Seed Unit |
137 | 3/52 | Titanium Unit |
138 | 4/52 | Pyrethrum Insecticide Unit |
139 | 5/52 | Curve Unit |
140 | 6/52 | Highway Safety Unit |
141 | 7/52 | Ancient Marine Life Unit |
142 | 8/52 | Carbon Black Unit |
143 | 9/52 | 1952 Fiberglas Plastic Unit |
144 | 10/52 | Optical Illusions Unit |
145 | 11/52 | Taste Unit |
146 | 12/52 | Christmas Tree Ornaments Unit |
|
147 | 1/53 | Multi-Layer Wood Unit |
148 | 2/53 | 1953 Seed Unit |
149 | 3/53 | Fibers of the Pacific Unit |
150 | 4/53 | Nails Unit |
151 | 5/53 | Licorice Unit |
152 | 6/53 | Iron Oxide Pigments Unit |
153 | 7/53 | Synthetic Fiber Ropes Unit |
154 | 8/53 | Polarized Light Unit |
155 | 9/53 | Sugar Cane Bagasse Unit |
156 | 10/53 | Tea Unit |
157 | 11/53 | Fingerprint Unit |
158 | 12/53 | Modern Fabrics Unit |
|
159 | 1/54 | Diatomaceous Earth Unit |
160 | 2/54 | 1954 Garden Unit |
161 | 3/54 | Fertilizer Chemicals Unit |
162 | 4/54 | Crystallization Unit |
163 | 5/54 | Lodestone Unit |
164 | 6/54 | Urea Chemical Unit |
165 | 7/54 |
166 | 8/54 | Modern Electronics Unit |
167 | 9/54 | Synthetic Mica Unit |
168 | 10/54 | Solderless Connector Unit |
169 | 11/54 | Pharmacology Unit |
170 | 12/54 | Top Unit |
|
171 | 1/55 | Paperboard Unit |
172 | 2/55 | 1955 Seed Unit |
173 | 3/55 | Water Conditioner Unit |
174 | 4/55 | Fastener Unit |
175 | 5/55 | Sulfur Unit |
176 | 6/55 | Cattail Unit |
177 | 7/55 | Seed Germination Unit |
178 | 8/55 | Balloon Unit |
179 | 9/55 | Modern Cotton Unit |
180 | 10/55 | Horology Materials Unit |
181 | 11/55 | Chemical Indicator Unit |
182 | 12/55 | Poultry Byproducts Unit |
|
183 | 1/56 | Products of the Sea Unit |
184 | 2/56 | 1956 Seed Unit |
185 | 3/56 | Glass Properties Unit |
186 | 4/56 | Straight Line Unit |
187 | 5/56 | Sugar and Starch Unit |
188 | 6/56 | New and Unusual Paper Unit |
189 | 7/56 | Plastics Unit |
190 | 8/56 | Dye Unit |
191 | 9/56 | Geometric Models |
192 | 10/56 | Aerodynamics |
193 | 11/56 | Copper |
194 | 12/56 | Salt Unit |
|
195 | 1/57 | The Mollusk |
196 | 2/57 | 1957 Seed Unit |
197 | 3/57 | Air Pollution |
198 | 4/57 | Zirconium |
199 | 5/57 | Spice |
200 | 6/57 | Pesticide Unit |
201 | 7/57 | Papermaking |
202 | 8/57 | Thermal Insulation |
203 | 9/57 | Plant Growth Regulators |
204 | 10/57 | Petrology |
205 | 11/57 | Pharmacy |
206 | 12/57 | Lens Unit |
|
207 | 1/58 | Steel Wire |
208 | 2/58 | 1958 Seed Unit |
209 | 3/58 | Computation Unit |
210 | 4/58 | Soil Unit |
211 | 5/58 | Tin |
212 | 6/58 | Cotton Laundering |
213 | 7/58 | Curve Unit |
214 | 8/58 | Paper Chromatography |
215 | 9/58 | Cotton Finishes |
216 | 10/58 | Spectral Color |
217 | 11/58 | Specialized Papers Unit |
218 | 12/58 | Motor Unit |
|
219 | 1/59 | Lithium Unit |
220 | 2/59 | 1959 Seed Unit |
221 | 3/59 | Corrosion Inhibitor |
222 | 4/59 | Atomic Energy Unit |
223 | 5/59 | Crystallization |
224 | 6/59 | Optical Illusions |
225 | 7/59 | Cryptography Unit |
226 | 8/59 | Measurement |
227 | 9/59 | Static Electricity |
228 | 10/59 | Non-Woven Fabrics |
229 | 11/59 | Astronomy |
230 | 12/59 | Butterflies |
|
231 | 1/60 | Bacteriology |
232 | 2/60 | Herb Seeds |
233 | 3/60 | Color Top |
234 | 4/60 | Sextant |
235 | 5/60 | Straight Line |
236 | 6/60 | Hexaflexagon |
237 | 7/60 | Seed Germination |
238 | 8/60 | Test Papers Unit |
239 | 9/60 | Kaleidoscope Unit |
240 | 10/60 | Chemical Models Unit |
241 | 11/60 | Magnetic Force Unit |
242 | 12/60 | Pendulum Unit |
|
243 | 1/61 | Sound Unit |
244 | 2/61 | Soilless Gardening Unit |
245 | 3/61 | Polystyrene Plastic Unit |
246 | 4/61 | Ancient Gems Unit |
247 | 5/61 | Breakfast Cereal |
248 | 6/61 | Paint Unit |
249 | 7/61 | Synthetic Rubber Unit |
250 | 8/61 | Survival Food Unit |
251 | 9/61 | Manganese Unit |
252 | 10/61 | Irradiated Seeds Unit |
253 | 11/61 | Natural Rubber Unit |
254 | 12/61 | Incense |
|
255 | 1/62 | Sea Shell Unit |
256 | 2/62 | Seed Unit |
257 | 3/62 | Geometric Models Unit |
258 | 4/62 | Tobacco Culture |
259 | 5/62 | Metals |
260 | 6/62 | Surface Tension |
261 | 7/62 | Marble |
262 | 8/62 | Probability |
263 | 9/62 | Silicones |
264 | 10/62 | Silk |
265 | 11/62 | Taste |
266 | 12/62 | Space-Age Minerals |
|
267 | 1/63 | Mathematical Paper Folding |
268 | 2/63 | Maps and Charts |
269 | 3/63 | Enzymes |
270 | 4/63 | Cotton |
271 | 5/63 | Metal Fasteners |
272 | 6/63 | Diffraction Optics |
273 | 7/63 | Computation Unit |
274 | 8/63 | Fossils |
275 | 9/63 | Simple Machines |
276 | 10/63 | Copper |
277 | 11/63 | Yeast from Trees |
278 | 12/63 | Space Materials |
|
279 | 1/64 | Polymer Fiber |
280 | 2/64 | Seeds |
281 | 3/64 | Triboluminescence |
282 | 4/64 | Papermaking |
283 | 5/64 | Spectral Color |
284 | 6/64 | Curve Unit |
285 | 7/64 | Pinhole Photography |
286 | 8/64 | Coal |
287 | 9/64 | Powder Metallurgy |
288 | 10/64 | Polarized Light |
289 | 11/64 | Food Supplements |
290 | 12/64 | Acetate and Triacetate Fibers |
|
291 | 1/65 | Artists' Colors |
292 | 2/65 | Seeds from Tree Farms |
293 | 3/65 | Water-Soluble Plastics and Paper |
294 | 4/65 | Aluminum |
295 | 5/65 | Gemini III model |
296 | 6/65 | Unusual Optical Phenomena in Minerals |
297 | 7/65 | Corn By-Products |
298 | 8/65 | Carbon Black |
299 | 9/65 | Textile Fiber Identification |
300 | 10/65 | Polypropylene |
301 | 11/65 | Unusual and Specialized Papers |
302 | 12/65 | Pendulum |
|
303 | 1/66 | Humidity |
304 | 2/66 | Seeds |
305 | 3/66 | Reactivity of Metals |
306 | 4/66 | Topology |
307 | 5/66 | Solar Still |
308 | 6/66 | Latex |
309 | 7/66 | Vision |
310 | 8/66 | Static Electricity |
311 | 9/66 | Rocks and Minerals of the Southwest |
312 | 10/66 | Stars and Constellations |
313 | 11/66 | Measurement |
314 | 12/66 | Holography |
|
315 | 1/67 | Hearing |
316 | 2/67 | Miniature Flowers |
317 | 3/67 | Cast Iron |
318 | 4/67 | Center of Gravity |
319 | 5/67 | Color |
320 | 6/67 | Glass |
321 | 7/67 | Magnetism |
322 | 8/67 | Buoyancy |
323 | 9/67 | Chromatography |
324 | 10/67 | Mirrors |
325 | 11/67 | Chemical Models |
326 | 12/67 | Fiber Optics |
|
327 | 1/68 | Touch |
328 | 2/68 | Soilless Gardening |
329 | 3/68 | Computer |
330 | 4/68 | Salt |
331 | 5/68 | Linkages |
332 | 6/68 | Sundial |
333 | 7/68 | Sound |
334 | 8/68 | Aerodynamics |
335 | 9/68 | Corrosion |
336 | 10/68 | Heat |
337 | 11/68 | Treated Cotton Fabrics |
338 | 12/68 | Crystal Growth |
|
|
|
Year | Date? | Subject |
1969 | 1/69 | Surface Tension |
| 2/69 | The Grasses |
| 3/69 | Probability |
| 4/69 | Refraction |
| 5/69 | Abacus |
| 6/69 | Fumed Silica |
| 7/69 | Optical Illusions |
| 8/69 | Pinhole Photography |
| 9/69 | Weather |
| 10/69 | Taste |
| 11/69 | Geometric Models |
| 12/69 | Gravity |
|
1970 | 1/70 | Simple Machines |
| 2/70 | Herbs |
| 3/70 | Electricity |
| | Curves |
| | Symmetry |
| | Chemical Indicators |
| | Color Vision |
| | Sextant |
| | Mathematical Paper Folding |
| | Fossils |
| 11/70 | Polarized Light |
| 12/70 | Holiday Ornaments |
|
1971 | 1/71 | Plastics |
| | The Sense of Smell |
| 3/71 | Humidity |
| 4/71 | Soybeans and Soy Proteins |
| 5/71 | Measurement |
| 6/71 | Recycling |
| | Hydrophobic Fumed Silica |
| 8/71 | Topology |
| 9/71 | Pendulum |
| 10/71 | Liquid Crystals |
| 11/71 | Vision |
| | Spectral Color |
|
1972 | | Rocks |
| | Electrostatics |
| 3/72 | Center of Gravity |
| 4/72 | Seashells |
| | Mirrors |
| | Hydroponics |
| 7/72 | Solar Energy |
| 8/72 | Stars and Constellations |
| 9/72 | Jars and Bottles |
| | Life Cycle of a Can |
| 11/72 | Color |
| 12/72 | Touch |
|
1973 | 1/73 | Chemical Models |
| 2/73 | Herb Seeds |
| 3/73 | Metric System |
| | Natural Rubber |
| | Computation |
| | Crystal Growth |
| | Copper Basin Geology |
| | Sound |
| | Motion |
| | Mathematical Mechanisms |
| | Aerodynamics |
| 12/73 | Man-made Fibers (Non-Cellulosic) |
|
1974 | | Magnetism |
| | Seeds |
| | Corrosion |
| | Buoyancy |
| | Light |
| | Geometric Models |
| | Liquid Chromatography |
| | Curves |
| | Sundial |
| | Acid-Base Indicators |
| | Optical Illusions |
| 12/74 | Holography |
|
1975 | 1/75 | Gravity |
| 2/75 | Seeds of Garden Plants |
| 3/75 | Heat |
| 4/75 | Mathematical Paper Folding |
| 5/75 | Symmetry |
| 6/75 | Visual Perception |
| 7/75 | Figures of Maximum Area |
| 8/75 | Pinhole Photography |
| 9/75? | Man-Made Cellulosic Fibers |
| 10/75? | Energy |
| 11/75? | Probability |
| 12/75 | The Lever and the Pulley |
|
1976 | 1/76? | Surface Tension |
| | Herb Seeds |
| | Salt |
| | Electricity |
| | Spectral Color |
| | Measurement |
| | Pendulum |
| | Vectors |
| | Metric System |
| | Clouds |
| | Topology |
| | Stars and Constellations |
|
1977 | | Abacus |
| | Vegetable Garden |
| | Crystal Growth |
| | Electrostatics |
| | Synthetic Wood Pulp |
| | Center of Gravity |
| | Earthquakes |
| | Friction |
| | Solar Energy |
| | Light |
| | Fossils |
|
1978 | | Vision |
| | Herb Seeds |
| | Sextant |
| | Aerodynamics |
| | |
| | Rainbow Holography |
| | Acid-Base Indicators |
| | Force |
| | Super Slurper |
| | Sound |
| | |
| 12/78 | Color |
|
1979 | | Xerography |
| | Vegetable Seeds |
| | Geometric Models |
| | Reflection |
| | The Skin Senses |
| | Work and Energy |
| | Magnetic Force |
| | Sundial |
| | Curves |
| | Afterimage |
| | Wind Power |
| 12/79 | Matter: What Is It? |
|
1980 | 1/80 | Motion |
| | Vegetable and Fruit Seeds |
| | Topology |
| | The Wheel |
| | Gravity |
| | Metallic Corrosion |
| | Mathematical Paper Folding |
| | Optical Illusion |
| | Symmetry |
| | Heat and Temperature |
| 11/80 | Holiday Science Fun |
| 12/80 | |
|
1981 |
|
1982 |
|
1983 | | Seeds and Germination (Angiosperms) |
|
1984 | | Acid-Base Indicators |
| | Measuring |
| | Simple Machines |
| | Conchology - The Study of Shells |
| | Curves |
| | Science Fun |
| | Continents Adrift |
| | Astronomical Numbers |
| | Optical Illusions |
| | Seeing |
| | Triangles |
| | Matter |
|
1985 |
|
1986 |
|
1987 | | Topology |
|
1988 | | Clouds |
|
1989 | | Friction |
| | Gravity |
| | Magnetism |
| | Static Electricity |
|
Titles known, dates uncertain |
12/46? | | Trees |
03/47? | | Corn |
|
Titles uncertain, dates unknown |
1941? | | Plastics |
1946-47? | | Magnetic Clutch |
| | Hot and Cold |
| | Hydroponic Salts |
| | Light and Color |
| | Making Work Easier |
| | Rock, Stone, and Earth |
| | Seeds and Plants |
| | Using Magnets |
| | Water Around Us |
| | Weights and Measures |
|
During the late 1960s, Geoffrey Young ran a UK-based "Things of
Science" program for ACE (the
Advisory Centre for Education, based at that time in Cambridge), which
produced a series of at least 16 kits in 1966.
Tien Bryan sent me a photo of
nine of these kits from 1966, which came in boxes with imprinted
titles and numbers. The first section of the table below catalogs his
collection.
It appears that at least 12 of these kits were reissued between 1966
and 1968. My own collection includes 11 kits dated 1966, 1967, and
1968, which came in boxes with imprinted numbers only, listed in the
second section of the table below. Since the numbers do not appear on
the instruction sheets or elsewhere in the kits, their association
with the kits is uncertain, and I suspect that the boxes on my kits
may have been shuffled long ago; in particular, based on the dates, it
seems likely that the Chemical Indicators kit currently housed in box
2 may have originally been supplied in the missing box 11.
Although several of the titles and some of the materials also appear
in the Science Service's Things of Science, the accompanying
experiments are different, and it appears that instruction sheets
included in the ACE Things of Science were written specifically for
those kits.
Unit number | Date | Subject |
1 | 1966 | Simple Machines |
2 | | |
3 | | |
4 | | |
5 | | |
6 | | |
7 | 1966 | Polarised Light |
8 | 1966 | Astronomy |
9 | 1966 | Computer |
10 | 1966 | Air Pollution |
11 | 1966 | Road Safety |
12 | | |
13 | 1966 | Refining |
14 | | |
15 | 1966 | Skeleton |
16 | 1966 | Spectra |
| | |
1 | undated | Simple Machines |
2 | 1968 | Chemical Indicators |
3 | 1966 | Shells |
4 | undated | Iron |
5 | 1967 | Soil-less Garden |
6 | 1967 | Computer |
7 | 1967 | Osmosis |
8 | 1967 | Refining/Filtration |
9 | 1967 | Slide Rule |
10 | 1968 | Fibres for Fabrics |
11 | | |
12 | 1968 | Skeleton |
My wife and I met as students at MIT in the mid-1970s (I studied physics,
and she studied mathematics and biology). We have three kids who all share
our love of science, engineering, and mathematics. I was disappointed to
discover, when our oldest was about the age to start enjoying Things of
Science, that the program had been discontinued, and (worse) that my mother
had tossed out all of my old Things of Science (although she kept the flower
pot I made from a tin can and a bunch of clothespins, for reasons I didn't
understand until I started collecting my own kids' creations -- but I
digress). Since I was (and still am) at MIT, our kids were certainly not
science-deprived, but it nagged at me that there really was nothing quite
like those blue boxes for them, a bit of mystery to unravel each month.
A few years later, along came the Web, and eBay, and then (seemingly)
everything that anyone had ever thought to collect was available again.
It has been great fun to rediscover (and to learn more about) this wonder
of my childhood and to share it with my kids. And sometimes I let them
open the boxes first.
Naturally, I wanted to learn everything I could about the program, and
I began compiling a list of Things of Science units (above). As time permits, I am adding
additional information about the units, including their
contents, notes about the experiments, and current sources for
replacement materials. I've checked the information posted here
carefully, in most cases with reference to kits I've been able to
examine. Entries in italics are from information supplied by
readers of this page, and have not been checked further. Thanks
especially to Ivars Peterson for sending me notes written by Richard
Wayne Bush about his family's collection of Things of Science spanning
three generations, which provided many of these unchecked listings.
Other readers who have contributed information and recollections
include James Benton (whose question about Computation Unit 209 prompted me
to begin work on this page), Jim Buhrman, Tom Fredette, Karl Gardner,
Rebecca J. Goetz, Carlo Milono, Dale Schubert, Kathleen Smith, Andy
Stevens, and Ron Zilli.
Help!
Additional information and corrections are welcome and will be gratefully
acknowledged here (please send email about this page to george at mit dot edu).
In addition, I will send a Things of Science unit as thanks to the first reader
who sends me readable scans of the booklet or instructions and photos of the
contents of any unit not listed above, or for any of the units listed in
italics.
George B. Moody
Last revised 1 December 2009.
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