BEST SELLERS

Sometimes you just need a nice plastic tube with caps on the ends. You know it and we know it, which is why we’re carrying this one. Measures 5-3/4" long with a 0.79" (or 2cm) exterior dia and is made of transparent black/gray-tinted acrylic. Has black plastic plugs on both ends, and we’ll never ask you what you did with it. As long as you don’t ask us what we did with ours.

We’ll say. Herr Erlenmeyer of flask fame was handled Richard August Carl Emil Erlenmeyer, but you can call him Emil. Our Borosilicate glass version of his flask holds 500ml, and is graduated from 200ml to 400ml in 50ml increments. Stands 3-3/4” tall with a 4-1/4” dia bottom narrowing to 2-1/2” at the top, which also makes it a hard-to-spill coffee cup.

If you're devoted to explosions, and who isn't, you'll love the new expanded 2nd edition of William Gurstelle's Backyard Ballistics, now 25% longer, with 25% more ka-boomery. Still the go-to reference work for building rockets, cannons (carbide and potato), flingers, fire kites, electromagnetic pipe guns, tennis ball mortars, cleaner-bag balloons, ballistic pendula and petards. You simply can't have more fun with common household materials. The soft-cover, 210pp compendium includes detailed and illustrated instructions, parts lists and sensible ways not to be hoist on your own petard. Be careful out there.

Not sure how you’re supposed to get any journaling done with something so snazzy, but this 6” x 8” sequined notebook is probably better for your psyche than any diary entry, anyway. Sequins have a fish-scale pattern and are surprisingly soft, ranging from deep purple to bright green as you tilt the cover, with (duh!) a silver mermaid in the center. Has about (80) lined pages with space at the top right for dates, so it’s perfect as a diary. Or for noting the catch of the day.

Our coolest ruler, hands down. It’s dark blue plastic, T-shaped, and packed with information. It’s an American Wire Gauge and a screw-size gauge. It measures UTS and ISO screw pitch, has SMD capacitor info, conversion scales, transistor and diode diagrams. It has a list of SI prefixes, digital logic gates, logic identities, electrical units and abbreviations, colors and wavelengths, transmission line equations, a protractor, a breadboard and tons more. If you’re not into that stuff, use it a 13”/33cm ruler. Measures 15" x 6-1/4” x 1/16" overall, and you might need a magnifier to read some of it. Made in the USA.

You know those times when you don’t have a stove and you wonder how you’re going to heat up your soup or mac and cheese? Like at college, or when you’re on the road and living in hotel rooms? Times like those are when this 110VAC, 1000-watt (9A) hot plate shines. Has an easy-to-use dial with (5) temperature settings, from 140F to 716F, a neon power indicator, metal body, non-slip feet and a 3-foot cord. Measures approx 8” x 8” x 2-3/4”. This is a serious cooking tool, not a toy, and shouldn’t be used by anyone under age 12. Anyone over 12 should operate the plate under the supervision of an adult. Just one, though. Too many cooks spoil the broth. CE listed.

Start them out right with this (profusely) hand-illustrated, 96-page book: The Story of Inventions. Includes toasters, toilets, television, computers, cars, chocolate bars, dishwashers, pianos, flying machines, bicycles and blue jeans among many others. Includes a timeline, glossary and index. No age recommendations, but we like it for pretty much anyone.

InkJoy is the Paper Mate® name for a particularly smooth ink, but it’s the medium 1mm points that make these so pleasant to write with. Measure 6” long with black ink and pocket-clip caps. Our each is a pack of (8) pens.

OK, chicken plucking and how to build an igloo, but you could combine them if you needed to. How To is a book of wilderness skills with instructions on over (75) things you might need to know someday, including the two above, plus opening coconuts with a rock, sheep-shearing, crossing deserts (with the associated treating a snakebite), surviving bear attacks, starting fires in the rain, cleaning fish, tanning hides, and shoeing horses. Takes a nice, fun look at desperation in the woods. We've already used a bunch in the office.

When we were kids, the only toy we had was a cardboard box. Walked uphill to and from school, too-both ways. And in the rain. Imagine what we could have done if we’d have had Cardboard Box Engineering, the (175)-page book full of photos, illustrations, educational facts and instructions on how to turn household items into games, airplanes, robots, gears, solar cookers and more. Kids can design, tinker and build their own outside-the-box creations, Get it? Outside the box? From best-selling author Jonathan Adolph. Made in USA.

Beautiful refrigerator magnets, all set to be imbedded in your child's best ever creation for refrigerator work. Six file card holding power, 3/4" dia x 3/16" thick ceramic with beveled edges to minimize chipping. They don't come much better than that!!

John Singer Sargent didn’t use crayons for his watercolor paintings, but that’s only because he didn’t have them. He probably would have loved these (15) premium watercolor crayons from Faber-Castell®. The pigment-rich, washable paint is in the crayon itself, and the kit comes with a brush and storage tray. Crayons are triangular-shaped for more control, and their colors span the spectrum. Ages 3+.

Eye dropper, tongue dropper, test tube dropper, petri dish dropper, anywhere dropper. Use this 3" glass dropper, with a rubber squeeze bulb to drop small amounts of liquid wherever you think they should go. You will have to measure by counting drops, though, because there are no markings on it. Also, it is called "3" because that is about how long the glass tube is. Overall, it is 4" long.

What is a killer rare earth magnet? Well, once upon a time, a copywriter put this little magnet next to his computer monitor and got really pretty, wavy, aurora-like effects. And then got a new monitor! Don't try this at home. Our shiny, silver-colored 1" x 1" x 3/8" neodymium magnet looks innocent, but is industrial strength, pulling something like 25 lbs with enough strength left over to erase all your credit cards. And wreak havoc with your monitor.

Stainless steel mortar and pestle set. Mortar measures 5-1/4” dia x 3” on a 4” dia attached saucer-like base. Holds approx 250ml. Pestle is 6-3/4” long with 1-1/4” and 2” dia heads. Nice for the lab, or for folks who want everything in their stainless steel kitchen to be stainless steel. You know who you are. And we salute you.

A great find: sterile plastic petri dishes, 90mm dia x 15mm deep, with a loose fitting lid. Great for growing cultures for your science fair experiments, as individual pancake storage cases or for mixing paint. Our each is (25) dishes and lids in a sealed, sterile package.

So you don't have a gas jet in the garage? You don't think Margie and Ted are old enough to handle the high temperatures of a Bunsen burner? Our alcohol lamp is the answer. It burns alcohol (available at the hardware store), and is hot enough to boil water, to soften glass tubing for bending, and to generate the chemical reactions generally called for in science projects. The lamp is thick glass, shaped somewhat like a squared-off ink well, 3-1/2" tall w/ cap x 2-1/2" and comes with a screw-on wick holder and a handy little lid/extinguisher, both metal.

In the lab or kitchen, these clear borosilicate glass mugs have a handle and lip and remind you that science is part of your every day. The smaller 4-1/2" 400mL one has graduations in 50mL increments and the larger 6" 1000mL one in 100mL increments with numeric markings every 100mL or 200mL accordingly; both with more room before you have to worry about spilling. May come with a pour spout on the side opposite the handle which won't affect your beverage consumption but will make it easier to water your favorite house plant. Not intended for serious lab use as the volumes are approximate. Remember to ask for 236.5ml of coffee the next time you visit your favorite diner.