Evolution of Science Kits

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
History of Science
Edward Hessler

In the Distillation series, produced by the Science History Institute, four short animated videos provide a glimpse of science kits and their evolution. The kits were once used at home to do "experiments" and demonstrations. 

You may be familiar with chemistry sets, a great source of stinks, flashes and bangs. Most of these were marketed before there was any concern about the safety of some of the chemicals or some of the techniques (e.g., an alcohol burner) or from occasional (hoped for!) results (explosions). I had one made by the A. C. Gilbert toy company and loved playing with it.

Science Kits at Play shows four time periods and the nature of the kits.

1850s

1900s

1950s

2000s