Boing Boing had this quite a while ago, but I just ran across it courtesy of Dubious Quality. The A.C. Gilbert company sold educational science sets back in the 50′s, and one of their less successful offerings was the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab sold from 1950-51.

This was the most elaborate Atomic Energy educational set ever produced, but it was only only available from 1951 to 1952. Its relatively high price for the time ($50.00) and its sophistication were the explanation Gilbert gave for the set’s short lifespan. Today, it is so highly prized by collectors that a complete set can go for more than 100 times the original price.

The set came with four types of uranium ore, a beta-alpha source (Pb-210), a pure beta source (Ru-106), a gamma source (Zn-65?), a spinthariscope, a cloud chamber with its own short-lived alpha source (Po-210), an electroscope, a geiger counter, a manual, a comic book (Dagwood Splits the Atom) and a government manual “Prospecting for Uranium.”

There is no spec given for source activity. Hopefully it was really low. It’s amazing looking back from a time where chemistry sets are considered too dangerous that kids were actually encouraged to play with radioactive materials. I wonder, though, if part of the reason we’ve lost interest in science as a society is because we no longer encourage our kids to explore the “cool” things in science. My father-in-law, also a physicist, nearly blew up his childhood home making homemade fireworks. In my younger days I used my high school physics to optimize potato cannon design. By relegating science to a sterile classroom lab, I think we’ve taken away some of its allure.