Sometimes science is a little spooooky! Today’s story from Sam Tallury is an odd tale of youthful hijinks that could only be possible through a careful study of chemistry:

We wrote creepy stuff with phosphorous on our high school walls. The watchmen were very scared when the ‘writings’ glowed in the night. Our chosen phrases were things like, ‘you never know what tomorrow holds for you.’ For me, it held a lot more chemistry, polymer chemistry to be precise!

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! 

We’re back with more science stories from you! We always love hearing what inspired you as a kid-- and what continues to inspire you today. If you’d like to share a memory, a question, or a favorite science toy here, why don’t you drop us a line!

Today’s story is from Mark Miller. He remembers making wish lists as a kid... but not for things from Toys R Us! For kids with an interest in experiments, there were better places to fuel the fun...

Your chemistry sets remind me of fond memories of my first chemistry set when I was about 9 years old. I shudder when I think of the materials my parents let me play with in those days. I demonstrated responsible care, and while my siblings were wishing for items from the Sears Roebuck catalog for Christmas, I was making my list from Edmund’s Scientific Company. Early exposure surely was a factor in my lifelong interest and career in the sciences.

Thanks for sharing, Mark! 

We love the distinguished Astronomer and grinning moon on this hand-drawn vintage French postcard! This postcard was originally included as part of the souvenir album “Gavures et Cartes-Postales: Viex Paris Types Petites Metiers et Cris De La Rue," gifted to our CHF collections by Donald and Mildred Othmer. It reminds us that playing with science isn’t only about chemistry sets and messy explosions! Many budding young investigators also enjoyed collecting natural specimens (is there anything as cool as bugs and rocks?) or gazing upward at the stars, wondering about comets, meteors, planets, and... maybe even gravitational waves?

When we asked friend of CHF “D.Z.” about his first experiences with science as a kid, he told us that it was actually astronomy that changed his path. He vividly remembers:

Getting a telescope for my 8th birthday, and later using it to view the Comet Hale-Bopp!

Today’s story of science at play comes from Alan Veith! His career seems to have really taken off, after an early connection with a chemistry set... and some mail order additives. Here he shares the many places that playing with science took him through the years...

From my chemistry set at age 12 (1938) I graduated to more potent chemicals (HCl, H2SO4, NaOH) obtained by U.S. Mail from a supplier in Hagerstown, Maryland— something that I know would not be possible today! But as a young teenager, I had already learned how to handle these chemicals and had no problems.

After service in World War II, I majored in physical chemistry at the University of Kentucky. In 1949 I joined the B.F. Goodrich Company for a career in rubber-industry R&D. I retired in 1991 as a senior research fellow with 35 published scientific papers. I had a parallel secondary career in International Organization for Standardization (ISO) work in rubber technology from 1970 to 2005.