“To Reorder Please Call DEAD BATTERIES”
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice…
Dead Batteries
Author: Brian Garthwaite
Astronomy in the Library
Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 1970’s. Presumably a good chunk of it holds up? Chances are there are some spectacular discoveries (like our modern value of the Hubble constant) that would need a little updating. Maybe it’s also safe to assume that Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium has a few details now out of sync with our modern understanding?
By “our modern understanding,” we mean the field of experts, not the guys in the basement. We know stuff, sure. Some stuff.
Incidentally, Astronomy from a Space Platform is also from the ’70s. The proceedings from an AAAS symposium in Philadelphia in December 1970, it opens with an article titled “Energy Production from Nuclear Fusion,” highlighting the (then) current state of research on the subject.
Guess they didn’t yet realize what they were up against, but, hey, who doesn’t appreciate a little optimism now and then?
“Well Made”
Discovered inside an old wooden desk, burnt into the solid-wood drawer. No complaints about the quality of construction, to be honest. But how long has it been since furniture makers burnt in their brand with red-hot iron?
Coil
Large and heavy coils of enamel-clad copper wire, which allow for tight, dense windings, are useful for demonstrating induced currents caused by a changing magnetic field. Students can spin magnets on a rubber band to produce enough electrical energy to light an LED. Not much, sure, but it’s still borderline magical.
Note that these hold up for a long time. Acquired in April of 1966 – just shy of six decades ago – and it’s still in regular use.
That $115.00 price marked on there? $1,171.89 in today’s dollars. Do you think we’ve recouped our investment?
Bearings
Well there’s your problem. When the bearings have that much accumulated crud inside, they don’t work as well as they should. Or at all.
Van de Graaff
The spring semester PHYS 212 course starts with electrostatics, and what could be more entertaining than a Van de Graaff generator? A whirring rubber belt on two different rollers – one acrylic, the other covered in dense wool – builds up an electric charge on the anodized aluminum dome. The air positively crackles, and the discharge arcs look pretty great in a dark room.
Plus, it makes your skin feel all weird if you get close but not too close.
Goldbären
Several of our suppliers toss snacks inside the boxes of stuff we’ve ordered. Sure, if we’re spending a thousand bucks on equipment, a little bag of colorful surprise is pretty much nothing. But who doesn’t crack a smile at unexpected snacks?
Knife Switch
When learning about the laws of Ohm and Kirchhoff, it helps to have some hands-on experimentation, wiring together batteries and resistors and tiny little incandescent bulbs. Try it, see what happens, measure your voltage and current. Simple enough, yet more satisfying and memorable than just drawing squiggles on paper.
Plus, you get to open and close the switch like a tiny Frederick Frankenstein! Just try to resist the urge to shout out “My Creation Lives!” too loudly.
Threads
Occasionally, one piece slips past quality control. One little M3 screw, with a little less than half of its six millimeters threaded. Is it cute? Sure. Is it useful? Hardly.
Good thing we’re always ready with spares.
Compasses
‘Tis the season for toy kits once more, full of little odds and ends to explore the basic principles of physics. Among them, the humble magnetic compass.
Works with the Earth’s magnetic field, permanent magnets (included in the kit), and even a homemade electromagnet (included in the kit, some assembly required).
Adorably tiny and not ideal for navigation. Please don’t entrust your wilderness survival to these.