symboom
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Registered: 11-11-2010
Location: Wrongplanet
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Mood: Doing science while it is still legal since 2010
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Home chemistry society
Hobby chemists have gone from creators to destroyers, and chemistry has been villainised
These are exerpts from the link
That may apply to others here
The interest
Now in his early 40s, Philippe Louis has been doing chemistry at home in Brussels in Belgium since he was 13. ‘I got a chemistry set when I was
eight, but was too young then to understand the experiments described in the manual,’ he says. ‘I enjoyed mixing things together, and observing
the effect – especially when it was spectacular, whether that was a smell, foaming, or a colour change. Chemistry lessons at school helped me
understand the experiments, too.’
The opennest
Openness is a polarising opinion among hobby chemists. ‘A lot of people have an innate distrust of the authorities,’ Britton says. ‘There is
historical precedent – look at those who were burnt at the stake for practising rudimentary medicine that people thought was witchcraft. But when
things go wrong, it’s so often a failure to communicate. Yes, there are people who are irresponsible and have no concern for safety, but the
majority are responsible. There are plenty of amateur chemists who follow the letter of the law as far as chemical storage and how they dispose of
their waste.’
The trouble
Britton once had a visit from the FBI, after some mercury he’d bought leaked in transit. ‘Two special agents knocked on the door, and I told them
I’d been expecting them as they might think I was making tilting switches for bombs,’ he says. ‘It was for the mercury diffusion pump, which I
was using to grow gold, platinum and palladium crystals. They both had technical backgrounds and said that it made perfect sense, and I never had
another issue with them.’
The danger
Of course, there have been mishaps. Louis says he learned from the mistakes he made in his younger days, ranging from generating more chlorine gas
than expected to burning the bedroom carpet and dyeing patches of the ceiling yellow with a trinitrophenol dye.
Vincent’s worst accident involved an attempt, in his early teens, to precipitate silver that fused a Kevlar glove to his hand. ‘The ER doctor kept
asking me what chemicals I’d got on it, but of course it was just very, very hot – a thermal burn, not a chemical burn,’ he says. There was also
an incident where he was trying to isolate potassium via hydrolysis of molten potassium hydroxide, and the epoxy holding his cell together melted. He
threw it all into a large bucket of water, and it frothed all over the lawn. ‘The grass grew back dark green. It was just beautiful.’
https://www.chemistryworld.com/feature/hobby-chemists/101748...
https://www.chemistryworld.com/careers/my-video-has-six-mill...
Interesting quote regarding chemistry. ‘I do science communication to make knowledge available to everyone.’
I got to stop having ideas in the middle of the night
[Edited on 23-5-2018 by symboom]
[Edited on 23-5-2018 by symboom]
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nimgoldman
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Registered: 11-6-2018
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I started doing chemistry as a hobby about 2 years ago.
I am originally a software developer, but my interest in chemistry started with having a powerful LSD experience and later by experimenting with
psychoactive plants in Amazon - I really wanted to understand how it works and how it's made. I started making extracts and isolated plant alkaloids,
which was very funny and rewarding activity. I was then more and more dragged to the realm of synthetic organic chemistry, which is extremely
fascinating and allows me understand the magic behind these substances.
Of course, my hobby is officially considered "drug manufacture" even though I am interested more in the science of it, not mass production of
substances (it's not even possible with my small lab - but tell it to the authorities ... ). It is also especially hard to do amateur chemistry
without having a degree - many vendors simply don't talk to you since you are an "individual" - a "consumer" - and they have no interest in doing
business with you - but I don't want to waste years of my life sitting in the school just to get that piece of paper and start a business only to get
my hands on several interesting chemicals.
Fortunately there are still alternatives.
All in all, I am trying to deal with weird status of my hobby since it is psychologically stressful - like doing something you are not supposed to,
playing with fire.
[Edited on 19-9-2018 by nimgoldman]
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JJay
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Registered: 15-10-2015
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I develop software.
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Of course, my hobby is officially considered "drug manufacture"
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Whoah really? I have read a bit about drug manufacture and consider it an interesting topic, but there's a big difference between, "Bwaha! Time to
make some benzoquinone!" and breaking the law.
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even though I am interested more in the science of it,
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I think a lot of people would agree that a lot of the most interesting chemistry information on the net is contained in the Rhodium archive, which was
originally intended for drug manufacture.
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not mass production of substances (it's not even possible with my small lab - but tell it to the authorities ... ).
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Seriously? What do you consider mass production?
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It is also especially hard to do amateur chemistry without having a degree - many vendors simply don't talk to you since you are an "individual" - a
"consumer" - and they have no interest in doing business with you - but I don't want to waste years of my life sitting in the school just to get that
piece of paper and start a business only to get my hands on several interesting chemicals.
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You don't need a degree to start a business, but at that point, it's no longer a hobby.
In general, I advise that people follow the law. You can't really make exceptions for stupid laws--they're all stupid.
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happyfooddance
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Location: Los Angeles, Ca.
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Quote: Originally posted by symboom  |
Vincent’s worst accident involved an attempt, in his early teens, to precipitate silver that fused a Kevlar glove to his hand. ‘The ER doctor kept
asking me what chemicals I’d got on it, but of course it was just very, very hot – a thermal burn, not a chemical burn,’ he says. There was also
an incident where he was trying to isolate potassium via hydrolysis of molten potassium hydroxide, and the epoxy holding his cell together melted. He
threw it all into a large bucket of water, and it frothed all over the lawn. ‘The grass grew back dark green. It was just beautiful.'
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This is our own BromicAcid... I read this article a while back and figured it out. Pretty legendary home chemist. I love his phosphorous story.
http://www.bromicacid.com/mistakes.htm
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