Caveman Chemistry

[swampthing]

I bought this one because I thought it was pretty interesting. And it is.

I failed chemistry miserably in high school. No excuses,although everyone acknowledged that the chemistry teacher was one of those people who-through no real fault of their own-should not be teaching. Now that I've said that,humans should be able to get past a poor teacher if the subject is interesting enough,and I wasn't able to do that,so the fault was mine.

And since then,it's always irritated me,because chemistry,after all,is something every civilized human should know something about. Saw this one in a catalog and it looked like it might be worth the cash. (Oh,yeah,before I forget! -Author: Kevin Dunn,will go put up a link to the author's website when I get the chance,etc....)

And I wasn't disappointed. The book isn't exactly easy to read when you get started. The author (who I think has been an ivory tower academic all his life,and it shows) has the chapters being narrated by the various "spirits" of Air,Earth,Fire,and Water,and until you figure this out,it's confusing. And there's a chapter on making arrowheads,of all things,that had me wondering why it was there in the first place,but since I wasn't the one writing the book,I have no say in what goes into it. And thinking about it,learning how to make arrowheads out of old bottles is a cool thing to know how to do even if it doesn't exactly qualify as chemistry,so I can't complain about that.

Once you get past the initial confusion,the book is a VERY good one,if you're taking a chemistry class,or just interested in the subject. If it weren't for very smart people who were interested in chemistry and who spent countless hours pecking away at problems in labs and workshops,us humans would still be at the first two chapters of the book-sitting around a fire making arrowheads out of obsidian.

This book is a compilation of kitchen table type experiments on the making of a whole range of useful-and vital-substances,like ammonia,sulfuric acid,soap (if you don't think soap is a vital substance,go without for a couple of weeks),cellophane,metal,etc. All of these experiments are intended to be carried out at home,with proper precautions and all of them could be done by a smart grade-schooler,if adult supervision were on hand. And the processes are explained,AND the history behind the processes is also laid out in some detail. I had no idea-before reading the book-that sulfuric acid is as important as it is,nor did I have a clue why. And the same goes for the other processes in the book. Alkali,glass,etc.

An excellent book for home schoolers,an excellent book for Christmas or Birthdays if you need to wrap something up for a kid who has an interest in this subject. And maybe even for a kid who's smart,but doesn't know why he or she should be interested in the subject.

Not exactly cheap-but how much is a brain worth?

[KaffirSmasher]

There are so many interesting and useful things about chemistry - it's a shame how it's often taught. I think chemistry teachers should teach more practical chemistry (like how to make those arrowheads you were talking about, making soap, doing cool chemistry tricks, etc.) to get students interested, and use those experiments to teach the basic chemistry principles.

Too often, chemistry is treated like some branch of forbidden knowledge, only open to those rocket scientists with multiple science degrees.

[swampthing]

There are so many interesting and useful things about chemistry - it's a shame how it's often taught. I think chemistry teachers should teach more practical chemistry (like how to make those arrowheads you were talking about, making soap, doing cool chemistry tricks, etc.) to get students interested, and use those experiments to teach the basic chemistry principles.

Too often, chemistry is treated like some branch of forbidden knowledge, only open to those rocket scientists with multiple science degrees.

If it weren't for chemicals,none of us would even be alive! That's why I still get aggravated with myself for not at least making an effort in that class so long ago. Understanding at least the basics of chemistry,and how chemical reactions work (again-at the very least,the basic ones) is something that should be a part of every human's education.

And it should-in my opinion-be taught early,before heads like mine have a chance to calcify ad get even harder than they were when I popped out and started hollering for food. High school-the middle of puberty for most humans-is the WORST possible time to try and introduce people to something that is as difficult to teach well. No one is interested in things like acids,bases,ores,reduction,etc. They're all worrying about the things the suddenly elevated levels of hormones tell them to worry about. I'd think that 9 or 10 would be a good age to start kids on chemistry.

Here's the author's website,where you can get an overview of the book,and also purchase it.

http://cavemanchemistry.com/index.html

Or you can also get a copy from:

www.lindsaybks.com. which is where I ordered my copy.

Like I said in my first post-good Christmas shopping list material.

[SST]

And yet nigger chemistry is easy. Everything revolves around feces.

[swampthing]

And yet nigger chemistry is easy. Everything revolves around feces.

Yup-goat droppings,etc. Now there's one bright spot about chemistry being normally not taught well. Niggers will-unless I seriously miss my guess-avoid it like they avoid work.

So it might be possible for a conniving parent with a smart kid to talk the kid into trying a chemistry course. Of course the parent would have to do quite a bit of studying to be able to help the kid with homework and projects,but this book and others like it are there,if that's needed.

Come to think,that might be why a lot of people avoid chemistry. Answers to questions aren't available at home. That can be remedied.