Spinthariscope: the Ultimate Atomic Toy

The Spinthariscope was invented in 1903 by British scientist Sir William Crookes, and was one of the first instruments capable of detecting radioactive decay directly and in real-time. Though short-lived as a scientific instrument, Spinthariscopes were popular in the 1950s as a children's toy and still sold today as scientific novelties.

[Muonium]

Glad to see it worked out for you! As it happens, I'm actually from Rochester. A couple decades after this incident Kodak Research Labs would refine their emulsion purity and contamination detection capabilities to such exquisite heights that it required them to get into neutron activation analysis of trace elements in their process reagents. For this task they constructed a nuclear reactor in the basement of their KRL building 82 on Lake Ave. and kept it secret from everyone in the surrounding community including local government (save for the fire department) for the next half-century until its disassembly a decade or so ago. Though only a subcritical californium initiated neutron multiplier and thus incapable of experiencing a criticality excursion, it nonetheless contained a substantial chunk of highly enriched weapons grade U235!

[Keith_WBVUO]

Many years before I retired, I worked in a test lab that performed radiography of welds and castings. We used GM tubes to measure and detect gamma radiation from our isotope "cameras". When looking for possible leaks in our sealed sources, test swipes were sent to the source manufacturer and examined with a scintillation detector. I was the Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) and had to be familiar with all of these instruments and their histories. I was nodding in agreement with your bullet points throughout the video. It brought back memories here! Well presented, and, as Bob Hope used to sing, "Thank You For The Memories..."

[unitednuclear]

Thank you for the support and the detailed information offered in this video.

[jimtheedcguy]

I'm so glad I discovered your channel! The machinations of every day things and not so common things are something that I'm extremely into!

[wayneyadams]

7:36 You don't crush the quartz crystal, you apply pressure to it thus deforming (compress or stretch) it slightly. This upsets the balance of positive and negative charge in the crystal lattice creating a net positive charge at one end and a net negative charge at the other.

12:23 Here is a little trivia related to this story. Art forgery is detected by checking the paint and canvas for traces of radioactivity which was not present in the atmosphere until after the nuclear age started. When an art forger, no matter how skilled, mixes his paint it will contain trace amounts of radioactive material which is detectable thus exposing the forgery.

[jozefbubez]

As a kid I had one of these aka radium watch with which my grandmother presented me in 1957. By viewing with dark-adapted eyes and a small magnifying lens it was indeed possible to confirm that the supposed constant illumination actually comprised individual scintillations. Fascinating!
I wish I had the watch today but 'donated' the by then defunct time-piece 10 years later to my high-school having attached same to a (then ancient) glass photographic plate and on developing some days later, an image of the hands appeared thereon.

[PrivateEyeYiYi]

The Gilbert chemistry set I got for my 10th birthday in 1959 included one of these. It also had some neat chemicals like potassium ferrocyanide. Today’s chemistry sets might contain baking soda and vinegar with a book full of safty warnings. Lame!

[noumenon]

Fun fact: United Nuclear is owned and operated by its founder Bob Lazar, infamous for his claims of reverse engineering UFOs at Los Alamos. His expertise in the field of nuclear materials should, I believe, give people pause when questioning the veracity of his accounts. In any case, I have one of these spintheriscopes as well and love it! Yours is the first in depth video I’ve seen on it, and a good one too. Thank you!

[Dennis-ucgm]

I'm always amazed of the varied devices that allow us to see activity real time or record how much has taken place. Fascinating stuff.

[Axgoodofdunemaul]

"The most 1950s object ever created!" Hahha! Very good. I was a kid in the early 50s, and saw all those boxtop things, and actually sent off for some of them. My father explained this one to me, then said he could show me the effect without investing 15 cents and then waiting an interminal period for it to arrive. That night he came into my room after the lights had been out for an hour and let me examine his radium-powered watch dial up close. With my super-sharp boy's vision I could see that the glowing hands and numerals were faintly flickering. He said those were atomic particles hitting the other stuff. I was impressed. Modern glowing watch dials don't flicker. Later, when I was in the Vietnam War, I learned that our compasses were filled with radon gas. Not dangerous unless you were in a warehouse full of them. Or let a nearby VC see them glowing in the night. Fun with science! I enjoy your shows, and I especially like your self-presentation as a geeky 50s teenager. Because I had lots of geeky friends in high school in the later 50s, I know your character is a parody exaggeration, but It's fun and effective. Thanks for the work you do; you are a benefit to our nation.

[The_Future_isnt_so_Bright]

Kodak's investigation team deserves a nobel prize or something.

[steelcannibal]

Such an underrated channel, very informationally rich, Love your work!

[charly]

Excellent presentation, thank you I also remember seeing the random splashes of particles affecting the 16mm film that was taken during the first bomb tests, as well inffilm of the arial views of the explosions in Japan.

[MrKalashnikov]

Haven't seen a video that I haven't greatly appreciated, thank you.

[radnaut]

I love when I watch something that connects so many dots it’s amazing. As far as my understanding of nuclear physics and just history in general. Such a good video and I already knew about the Kodak incident at the end which is a cool story all in itself. You have to watch. I’m subscribing to this channel for sure. Great video! Bravo 👏

[Owl]

The green is a good color choice. Good job!

[Woffy.]

Great presentation, so fluid without auto-cue, you have an incredible ability to recall information. Thanks

[pepe]

wow the caliber of content is amazing. i love the story of the radioactive water being used in the packaging of the kodak film

[Kareem-Ahmed]

Great video. It's not only about radioactive-measuring devices, but also a brief history of the related discoveries. 👍

[ClergetMusic]

I like your use of “Pictures at an Exhibition.”