Theodore Gray - Theodore Gray’s Completely Mad Science: Experiments You Can Do at Home, but Probably Shouldn’t, the Complete and Updated Edition

Gordon Moore, founder of Intel, father of the computer revolution, was known in his youth for setting off homemade nitroglycerine along Sand Hill Road, then a pasture, now the heart of the Silicon Valley that he helped build. When the great doctor and writer Oliver Sacks (Awakenings, Uncle Tungsten) was growing up in London during the Second World War, his chemical experiments threatened his familys home as much as the German bombs falling around it.

Look into the past of any scientist, leader, rich nerd or football hero, anyone whos done something interesting in life, and you will find more curiosity, adventure, hard work, and questionable judgment than you will find high marks for neatness or time spent watching TV.

And for better or worse, the fire, smoke, smells and bangs of chemistry are what inspired many scientists to become scientists in the first place. This stuff is fun, no other way to put it. But its also dangerous enough that its been mostly banned from schools. Many chemistry teachers would love to show their students some of the things they did when they were in school, but they value their jobs too much.

This book, and the Popular Science column its based on, are a response to that. Many of the topics I write about are things I did when I was growing up, and I survived. Without those experiences I might have ended up as a stock broker, or worse.

Science is not something practiced only in labs and universities. Its a way of looking at the world and seeing truth and beauty everywhere. Its something you can do whether you are employed as a professional scientist or not. While I have a degree in chemistry from a fine university, Ive never worked as a professional chemist. I do these demonstrations in my shop on a rural farmstead half a mile from the nearest neighbor. (This is handy when exploring the louder aspects of chemistry.) Mostly I use simple kitchen and shop supplies and chemicals from the hardware store or garden center. I do avoid working in a real lab, because I would much rather tinker in my shop and find a simpler (some might say cruder) way of making the experiment work. Amateur scientists, many of them self-taught, tinkering in their shops and basements have done great things. Using a spirit of making do with what they have and seeing just how far they can take it, they make real contributions to the advancement of science.

But whats even more important is that everyone, regardless of their occupation, understand how science works and what it can and cant do. We are not going to solve the energy crisis, climate change, or water shortage by wishful thinking or by watching commercials paid for by lobbyists. We are going solve them by understanding the issues and supporting policies that actually work. There is one and only one way to make the right choice, and that is by using the scientific method to define, study, and understand the problems and the solutions. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you something.

In this book Ive tried to capture the fun and sense of adventure that comes with science, as well as its truth and beauty. I hope that you, even if you never actually try these experiments, catch the excitement and get a bit of a window into how scientific thinking works.

I had fun doing this stuff. I hope you have as much fun reading about it.