(1958-1959) of the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, which I purchased new. We called it the "Chemical Rubber Handbook" back then. The first table in the book is "Antidotes for Poisons", somewhat more interesting than log tables. The 40th was one of the last years in the small "handbook" format with flexible covers and printed on bible paper. At 3" thick it's almost as thick as it is high (3456 pages).

The CRH, Log Log Duplex Vector slide rules made of real bamboo with machine ruled white celuloid overlay, drafting tools in fitted, velvet lined wooden boxes, etched glass graduate columns with a red background stripe - geekdom had really cool stuff back then. Now it's all plastic, computerised and has the liftime of a fruit fly.

Another handbook I just couldn't resist when I saw it in the store was the Handbook of Poisoning (sixth edition, Lang 1969). It's cover is solid black with beetle green metalic lettering. The spine just says POISONING. I usually file it among my cookbooks.

Machinery's Handbook is another great handbook I have from one of my more recent past lives. It's about the same size as the CRH but on thicker paper (only 2104 pages). Unfortunately mine's a disgustingly recent 17th edition (1964), but also purchased new.

Uh-oh, soe vinegar splashed into y keyoard and letters are starting to go out - got to go get e another one . . .

There - that's better.

Other cool stuff we had - back when science was fun - was micrograin rocket fuel (zinc dust and sulphur). The worlds most dependable rocket fuel - it could be absolutely depended upon to do one of three things . . . (depending on how it was mixed, and especially how it was packed into the rocket).

Micrograin aleviated the difficult problem of making rocket nozzels. Any restriction of the tube would result in an explosion. No nozzel required.

A 36" long rocket (generally a stainless steel tube), if all went well, would burn for about 36 feet, leaving a column of florescent zinc chromate green smoke. It sounded like squeezing 50 pounds of jello through a one inch hole in 1/4 second.

Then the long wait for it to come down, and the hope it wouldn't come down right here - please!

Of course, if the packing wasn't quite right, no fragment would ever be found (I did find a twisted stainless steel shard out on the desert once) and we'd have to get out the hammers to try to straighten out the angle iron launching rack for the next one.

Then there were the fizzlers, the ones where the fuel was packed too tight. Even so, a satisfying cloud of billious green smoke.

All this was ruined by Thiocol Rubber rocket fuel. It always worked the same way, never exploded and no billious green smoke - all the fun was gone.

You young-uns have no idea what you missed out on.

. . are facimilies of ones written in the late Renaisance. I should get a couple more recent ones like the ones I used to read in the library when I was a kid.