Hong: Smart phone apps and science its chemistry

Scientists and gamers collaborated to put real chemicals back on the shelves.

by Albert Hong 26 August 2014

Believe it or not, science, particularly chemistry, was incredibly popular with American teenage boys around the 1950s, so much so that kids started wanting chemistry sets that contained real chemicals. Some even contained uranium and due to concerns about safety, chemistry sets fell as fast as they had risen during the 60s and 70s.

With laws like the Toxic Substances Control Act, chemsets these days are lacking the most important materials needed: actual chemicals. The Chemical Heritage Foundation, an organization trying to incorporate dialougue about science and technology in society, has brought the vintage chemset back with their new iPad game, ChemCrafter, developed by local design studio Bluecadet Interactive.

CHF, a local museum/library focused on the history of chemical sciences and more, held their second Game Night on First Friday of this month. The museum floor was open to visitors who wanted to see the history of chemistry and its applications today, including some actual vintage chemistry sets from companies like the Porter Chemical Company and A.C. Gilbert.

Amanda Shields, Curator of Fine Arts and Registrar at CHF, detailed the importance that these vintage chemsets had on influencing past and present chemists.

We actually have quotes from famous chemists that were inspired by their experiences with chemsets to go into the field, Shields said. That was the heyday of the chemistry set.

Shelley Wilks Geehr, director of the Roy T. Eddleman Institute of CHF, discussed with Eddleman the possibility of bringing back the chemistry set, this time through an iPad app.

The reason that chemistry sets arent fun anymore is because they dont have chemicals, but in the digital environment, you can have all the chemicals you want because nobody gets hurt, Geehr said. You cant poison the cat.

However, with no technical expertise, Geehr had to look elsewhere for a group to be able to develop something for teenagers to enjoy. Luckily, Bluecadet was just the technical talent she was looking for, recently having worked on the interactive screens for the PMAs Treasures from Korea exhibition and the redesigned website for Tyler School of Art.

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Hong: Smart phone apps and science its chemistry