The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments
Encyclopedia
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
written in the 1960s by Robert Brent and illustrated by Harry Lazarus and published by Western Publishing
Western Publishing
Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company was a Racine, Wisconsin firm responsible for publishing the Little Golden Books. Western Publishing also produced children's books and family-related entertainment products as Golden Books Family Entertainment...
in their Golden Books series. Many of the experiments contained in the book are now considered "dangerous for unsupervised children", and would not appear in a modern children's chemistry book. OCLC lists only 126 copies of this book in libraries worldwide.
The book was a source of inspiration to David Hahn
David Hahn
David Charles Hahn , also called the "Radioactive Boy Scout" or the "Nuclear Boy Scout", is an American who attempted to build a homemade breeder nuclear reactor in 1994, at age 17. A scout in the Boy Scouts of America, Hahn conducted his experiments in secret in a backyard shed at his mother's...
, nicknamed "the Radioactive Boy Scout" by the media, who tried to collect a sample of every chemical element and also built a model nuclear reactor, which led to the involvement of the authorities.