Customer Reviews

Theo Gray's Mad Science: Experiments You Can Do At Home - But Probably Shouldn't

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Who among us hasn't wanted to blow something up? I lent my copy of this book to a very distinguished 88-year-old who made pioneering measurements of the properties of single crystal metals. A week later I dropped in to see him.

"I read the whole thing," he reported. "Every page. This guy is telling people how to do really DANGEROUS things! It's great! I just hope no one gets killed."

Reminded by Gray's alkali metals explosions, he was eager to tell me about the time he himself threw a chunk of sodium into the stream near his house. He was 12 years old. It was 1933. ("We could get that sort of thing then; kids today can't. I took it from my brother's chemistry set when he was off at college.")

"The explosion was enormous, much bigger than I expected. Glass pieces flew all around my head. I could have been killed." He paused, a big smile on his face. "I never told my mother."

The rest of our conversation focused on how today's kids just don't get to tinker and experiment with materials the way we did in his day, and even in mine. He thinks the best thing about this book is that the excitement gets captured in Theo Gray's words (which are often funny) and the GREAT pictures; maybe reading this book can give kids -- and even adults who missed this part of growing up -- a feel for what those of us who survived those childhoods remember most fondly about them.

Shortly after that conversation I was talking with a woman whose 13-year-old son bought a copy. He, too, read the whole thing. But he got mad when he realized that he couldn't really repeat these experiments in their kitchen. (I guess he'll just have to sign up for chemistry lab, if any school still has one.)

So there they are -- 75 years apart in age: both read it from cover to cover and want to tell all about it. What more recommendation do you need? You don't even have to hear what I think. (But I'll tell you anyway: this is THE ULTIMATE GIFT BOOK and you should start by giving it to yourself.)

Reading never killed anyone; the only way this book can kill you is from laughing. (And if you really must repeat any of the experiments, Gray is actually VERY CAREFUL to point out what the risks are and how to avoid them).

The subtitle of this book is, "Experiments You Can Do At Home But Probably Shouldn't." A better subtitle would be, "Experiments You Would Like to Do At Home But Can't."

The experiments look totally cool, so I bought the book. I wanted to make the proposed Lightning Pattern. But the first item on the supply list is"Van de Graff static electric machine." Oh well, next experiment: "How to Make and Break Glass." Cool! Supply list for this experiment: Glass maker's furnace! Next? "How to Make a Match." Sounds good. Supply list: Red phosphorous, a chemical which, the book warns, is a federal crime to have in private possession.

The few remaining viable experiments are quite cool to quickly read about, so it would make a good book to check out of a library rather than purchase.

It's a great book with great content--lots of large colorful photos and a variety of labs will definitely keep you interested. However, don't get too excited! You're not going to be able to do a majority of these experiments with common household items. Most of the labs require chemicals, metals, and parts that the average family would not possess. So if you're just curious and wanna play with chemistry, this isn't the best book for you. You'll be able to admire the concepts and pictures, but you won't get to carry out the actual experiments without access to some uncommon materials (which can be ordered online of course).

And this book is for those who "know what they're doing".

This book is informative and interesting. It is well written and the it is perfect addition for any hobby area. That said, I was disappointed. Not only should you probably not do the experiments listed in this book, you can't. Some of the experiments call for chemicals not even available to the public without special licenses or permits... The experiments that can be done still require some very expensive equipment (Milling machines, Blast shields, and other chemicals available from the Mad Science website).

Picked up this book luckily at the library. Great pictures and Theo sure knows his stuff but if you have any hope of actually trying any of his proposed experiments, for the most part, YOU CAN'T. Either items are unavailable (pure platinum coins) or grossly expensive (30 lbs of mercury, anybody?) . I found a couple of experiments that I could probably do but any of the spectacular, wildly-visual stuff is just out of my league. Theo should have called this book something different because it mislead me into thinking I could really do some of these wild experiments. A retitle should be (a)"Mad Science: Crazy Experiments that are really fun to read about" (b) Mad Science: Really wild experiments for Theo Gray to do and you to watch". (c) Mad Science: Experiments you wish you could do, but can't". Enjoy the book for what it is-just get over the fact that most of its undoable.

If you like learning about science, you may love this book. Adam Savage of Mythbusters calls it "... a magnificent book". If you want to do some simple science by yourself and you don't have a large bankroll, look elsewhere.

Most of the experiments presented are simply impractical for 'normal' people to perform. One experiment shows how to use magnetic force to physically shrink coins. Sounds neat? It is! Unfortunately, it requires 1700 pounds of flash capacitors, a bank of enormous discharge resistors, and a 1/2 thick blast containment enclosure. Not something most people are likely to have laying around. Other experiments require arc welding rigs, plasma cutters, deuterium (heavy water), and other esoterica. In other words, many of the experiments are simply too expensive/impractical for most people to tackle.

Other experiments include the use of such chemicals as white phosphorous and cyanide, chlorine gas, and many other reactive materials. While the experiments can be very dramatic, many of not most of them are extremely, and I mean extremely dangerous. For example, at least two experiments use the thermite reaction. Thermite is simple stuff: Mix rust and aluminum oxide together (in approximate proportions-it's not real picky), and ignite. Simple-you bet. Dangerous? And how! He cautions to have a fire extinguisher around, and while it is generally a good idea, it is almost totally useless in this case, because the thermite reaction cannot-repeat cannot-be stopped once it has started, because it generates it's own Oxygen. Thermite melts through steel quite easily. Railroads use the reaction to weld railroad rails together, and the military uses it to destroy enemy canons and tanks. The Mythbusters used a ton of thermite to literally cut a car in half.

So, if you like watching Mythbusters, this book is for you. If you want to DO some science, plan on finding another book, unless you have lots of space and money. And NEVER let a kid who has access to some money see this book.

My wife is a science teacher so I bought the book for her. But I would not let her have it until I had read it cover to cover first. Thoroughly enjoyable and informative. I learned several things I did not know. The only thing bad thing I can say is that there were not enough experiments to do at home. Great book.

This is a great book - the experiments are spectacular, accompanied by beautiful photographs, which often capture the critical moments better than video. The experiments include using a powerful magnetic field to shrink coins to half their size, preserving snowflakes with superglue, and making your own thermite. I've read many science books, but I found almost all of the experiments here had some aspect that was novel or surprising to me. For example, "Making salt the hard way" (by mixing chlorine and sodium) sounded predictable, but even here the details were surprising - for example, although I knew that the reaction is violent and produces salt, I didn't realize that the white "smoke" that comes off the reaction IS the salt. The author hangs a bag of popcorn over the crucible so it will be lightly salted. (He describes this as the most dangerous experiment in the book, and in his attempt, it goes badly wrong.) Others are more subtly dangerous - like a technique for making aluminum (like, say, the superstructure of an aircraft) corrode away in the course of a flight.

Some experiments could theoretically be done on a low budget with household materials, or, more often, with substances available from a hardware or garden supply store. Others would require the experimenter to spend hundreds (or in one case thousands) of dollars or break the law. Fair enough - the title is "mad science" not "economical and law-abiding science", and those who complain about the fact that they lack the resources to do all these experiments at home obviously have too short an attention span to read to the end of the title - the part where it says you "probably shouldn't".

But it is fun to read... and imagine...

I was particularly intrigued by the idea of making ice cream using liquid nitrogen. The author describes the result (achieved in 30 seconds) as the best, smoothest ice cream he's ever tasted. The liquid nitrogen apparently freezes the cream so fast that the crystals formed are much smaller than in regular ice cream. As a home experiment, there are risks - like freezing your skin solid with liquid nitrogen, or swallowing a piece of super-frozen fruit - but it made me wonder why nobody manufactures ice cream this way, and whether there are other ways to get smaller crystals in ice cream. And that's one of the things I liked best about this book - after you've gasped or laughed at the audacity of the experiments, the sparks, explosions, and concrete-melting fires that no fire department could put out, it makes you ask questions, and encourages a hands-on attitude that is the basis for good science.

My nine-year-old son was fascinated by the book. He read it with a big grin, and many exclamations of "Co-ol!" Although this book is not intended for children, it's an interesting one to look through with them, and generates an interest in experimentation that you won't get from a science book that is less "mad".

This is a beautiful, fun, inspiring, and thoroughly entertaining book, but it's also filled with experiments requiring either heavy machining equipment or substances that you need a license to buy. You could only do these experiments at home if you also have a machine shop in that home. Mr Gray probably has all the equipment in his basement, but most folks don't.
For those looking for cool stuff to do with kids, the "sneaky uses for everyday things" books are a better source, if less entertaining in their own right.

This is a beautifully-photographed and illustrated book rife with the kind of elemental wizardry we all wished our chemistry and physics professors had the guts (and liability insurance) to demonstrate. Why see it on the Discovery Channel, et. al. when you can hold nearly 50 wild and crazy experiments safely in your hands, living vicariously as Theo Gray risks poking an eye out or melting the earth just below his feet. This book was so fun that I experienced every experiment in one read! And now I'll get to relive the details I found literally humorous with more friends and family. An impressive collection of scientific mayhem!