Many of us will remember "Mr. Wizard", Don Herbert, who performed mystifying experiments as well as explaining easily-understood scientific ideas to children as well as adults. But, does anyone recall Dr. Daniel Q. Posin? I did numerous searches, found reference to his shows on Chicago T-V, where I grew up, but after an hour, gave up with little to offer other than a few of my own memories.
Most notably, he explained nuclear fission in a way most memorable, so convincingly real, I have remembered it all my life. I saw this perhaps around age 12 or 13. Dr. Posin explained that certain atoms split in two of their own accord, occasionally. When such a thing happens, an atom splits into two entirely new and different material, elements, several tiny particles called neutrons are also shot out. These neutrons can cause adjacent atoms to split, which shoot out more neutrons, causing the splitting of still more atoms, on and on, extremely quickly, such that the whole works can go "POOF" in an instant.
Here's how he set up a demonstration. He had an entire big area of a room's floor, I judged as big as our living room at home, covered with mouse traps side by side, the wooden type with a spring-driven "snapper". He had hundreds of traps set, each one having a ping-pong ball sitting atop the trap. To demonstrate the start of the reaction by one neutron, he threw a ping-pong ball out into the middle of the room, whereupon it's falling on one of the traps, tripped it, which threw it's ball over onto another, tripping that one, and in a matter of seconds, zillions of Ping-Pong balls filled the air!
Most convincing showing of the process of fission that could be imagined! I wish more could be found about his shows. imp
Most notably, he explained nuclear fission in a way most memorable, so convincingly real, I have remembered it all my life. I saw this perhaps around age 12 or 13. Dr. Posin explained that certain atoms split in two of their own accord, occasionally. When such a thing happens, an atom splits into two entirely new and different material, elements, several tiny particles called neutrons are also shot out. These neutrons can cause adjacent atoms to split, which shoot out more neutrons, causing the splitting of still more atoms, on and on, extremely quickly, such that the whole works can go "POOF" in an instant.
Here's how he set up a demonstration. He had an entire big area of a room's floor, I judged as big as our living room at home, covered with mouse traps side by side, the wooden type with a spring-driven "snapper". He had hundreds of traps set, each one having a ping-pong ball sitting atop the trap. To demonstrate the start of the reaction by one neutron, he threw a ping-pong ball out into the middle of the room, whereupon it's falling on one of the traps, tripped it, which threw it's ball over onto another, tripping that one, and in a matter of seconds, zillions of Ping-Pong balls filled the air!
Most convincing showing of the process of fission that could be imagined! I wish more could be found about his shows. imp