Dear
Science Enthusiast,
Doing
science is all about learning how the universe around us works. Experiments,
when feasible, are often performed to study nature's behavior. If the
actual objects or materials are inaccessible, due to distance or danger,
then computer simulation may be called upon for a closer look. Either
way, marvelous and quite unexpected beauty is revealed in addition to
nature's secrets. The pictures and videos that you will encounter here
are recordings from some of my experiments. The intent is to encourage
others to explore the surrounding universe through experiments. This
is what the Views From Science Web site is
all about.
I
remember my first chemistry set. I was about 9 or 10 years old. The
set was an A.C. Gilbert kit in a blue metal box. I recall placing sulfur
in a spoon and heating it over an alcohol lamp until the sulfur caught
fire, sputtering glowing blue droplets all over the place. However,
I quickly extinguished my bed sheets (my bedroom doubled as a lab) and
moved on to the next experiment. But it was my second kit, a
Chemcraft set in a red, wooden box, which opened
to both sides from the middle, that proved the most exciting. In that
delightful kit, The Porter Chemical Company included a small, silver-gray
aluminum capped plastic tube with a lens on one end and sealed on the
other. Inside, on the sealed end, was a small, round disk of cardboard
coated with zinc sulfide. A trace amount of a radium compound had been
coated or mixed in with the zinc compound. I am quite sure that I didn't
wait too long to try it out. After accommodating to the dark for the
required 15 minutes or so, I peered into the tube. An incredible display
of flashing sparks of light appearing like a meteor shower became visible.
The longer I stayed in the dark, the more visible the flashes became.
That little tube (really, a viewport into the world of the atom) is
called a spinthariscope
and was invented by Sir William Crookes at the turn of the 20th century.
The device and its wonders are discussed in greater detail on one of
the pages to follow. Incidentally, as you can see from the photo animation,
I still have the device and it continues to work quite nicely. Well,
that was it. That sight, my introduction to radioluminescence, was all
I needed to start me off on a quest to see and learn as much as I could
about the incredible world that we live in!
What
you will find on this Web site are pictures and videos and animations
and text and more pictures. If you have an insatiable hunger for knowledge,
then surely the accompanying text will prove insufficient to thoroughly
explain all that you will see. So, I've included a list of references,
links, and credits on one of the pages. This is a growing Web site,
and I will continue adding more experiments to this site over the coming
weeks and months. Please check back from time-to-time for updated Views
From Science.
Perhaps
something you see on this Web site will encourage you to enter the world
of science. I hope that after your visits here you will agree that,
to paraphrase Jacques Barzun, science (the systematic study and knowledge
of everything in God's physical creation) is truly the
great entertainment!
Ely
Silk
P.S.
I have just begun a section dealing with the science of plasmas. Over
time, I expect to report on my experiments with phenomena ranging from
plasma focus fusion to sonoluminescence. Please drop in!
