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Edmund Scientific in the News
A Brief History of Edmund Scientfiic
Portrait Of A Literate American by Fred Reed
It’s That Time of Year Again...
Fun and Educational Do-It-Yourself Kits and Projects
ScientificsOnline Web Site Has Added Over 300 New Products...
Online Sales Soaring at Edmund Scientific...
Scientifics Online Table of Contents
The Edmund Scientific Corporation was founded in 1942 by Norman C. Edmund as the "Edmund Salvage Corporation." From the 1940s through the 1970s it operated under the name Edmund Scientific Corporation as a supplier of chipped lenses, war-surplus optics, and low cost scientific gadgetry. Its advertisements in publications like Scientific American caught the attention of hobbyists, amateur astronomers, high school students, and cash-strapped researchers. During four decades Edmund Scientific was virtually unique and was of cultural importance in the lives of young and old scientific hobbyists.
Edmund Scientific was part of the post-World War II "war surplus" phenomenon, when the U. S. government sold off large quantities of materials. These items were disposed of at very low cost and were available to small entrepreneurs, some of whom thrived by finding markets for them. "Army and Navy Stores" were a national phenomenon and originally sold actual military-surplus clothing. Surplus electronics found an outlet in dozens of shops, in New York City's "Radio Row" and elsewhere. A few issued catalogs and developed national mail-order businesses. Edmund was, however, the only widely-known supplier of surplus optics.
An Edmund len envelopeFollowing Sputnik, Edmund was able to capitalize on a growing national interest in science and astronomy. The core of Edmund's offerings were chipped lenses. These were single-element lenses, shipped in 2.5x4.25-inch (63x108 mm) coin envelopes, with the approximate diameter and focal length stencilled on them. Reflecting their salvage and surplus origins, available diameters and focal lengths did not fall into regular progressions. Edmund published crudely printed, stapled "books" describing experiments that could be performed with their lenses, and plans for building telescopes and other optical equipment.
An Edmund chipped lens Edmund also sold lens "kits." The ten-lens kit cost less than $10 and included a booklet of plans for instruments that could supposedly be built with them. Unlike Heathkits, which were absolutely complete kits requiring only soldering and assembly, Edmund's "kits" consisted of only the lenses. A great deal of skill and effort would have been needed to fashion the telescopes, microscopes, or opaque projectors described. And, of course, with single-element lenses the optical quality of the resulting instruments would not be high. Nevertheless, if a junior high school student wanted to follow in Galileo's footsteps, by taking a cardboard tube from a roll of paper towels, taping a positive lens and a negative lens into it, going into the backyard, and pointing it at Jupiter, Edmund could supply the necessary resources at a price commensurate with his or her means. Edmund even sold high-quality, thick, black cardboard tubes.
In 1971, in the Whole Earth Catalog of items "relevant to independent education," Stewart Brand noted: "Edmund is the best source we know of for low-cost scientific gadgetry (including math and optics gear). [In this category,] many of the items we found independently... turned up in the Edmund catalog, so we were obliged to recommend that in this area we've been precluded." That is, the Edmund catalog was virtually a Whole Earth Catalog for scientific hobbyists.
In the 1970s, as the viability of Edmund's business model waned, Norman Edmund's son Robert Edmund refashioned the business into two new ones: "Edmund Scientifics" and "Edmund Optics:" worthy and successful enterprises, neither of which had Edmund Scientific Corporation's unique character or status. Edmund Scientifics marketed to consumers and specialized in science-themed toys, vaguely high-tech household gadgets, and "science gifts." (In 2000 Edmund Scientifics was purchased by a company named "Science Kits and Boreal Labs" which continues to operate it under the Edmund Scientifics name). As of 2004, Edmund Optics markets first-quality, brand-new custom and specialized optics to corporations. It still sells lens kits, such as their item NT54-673. Instead of seemingly-random diameters and focal lengths, this kit contains thirteen lenses of uniform diameter in a regularly-spaced progression of focal lengths. Instead of single lens elements, these are achromats. Rather than being shipped in coin envelopes, they are shipped in a velvet-lined box. They are not chipped. And, at twelve hundred dollars, these lenses are not going into science fair projects.
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January 16, 2005
How is it possible to spend twelve years in school and not be able to read? How? It is beyond me. A sheet of dry wall
would be reading in less time.
Start at the beginning. The alphabet consists of all of twenty-six letters, as mysterious as potatoes. Whoopee-do.
How long can it take to learn two dozen little squiggles?
A story: When my elder daughter was barely two, my wife and I came back from a junket to Russia.
We were on the sofa looking at a coffee-table book from Moscow when Macon waddled in and began hollering,
“Bee! Bee!” Thinking that a wasp or some related monster had invaded our sacred domestic precincts, I went into
protective-male mode and prepared to make war on the beast. No wasp. No bee. Perhaps the child was delusional,
a paranoid schizophrenic.
Well, no. She was looking at a balalaika on the front of the book which looked like a lower-case B. "Hmmm,"
I thought with my accustomed preternatural perceptiveness. The kid appears to be on to something. She was.
I got a set of those magnetic stick-em refrigerator plastic letters and began showing them to her for five
minutes a day, about all the attention span she then had. Before reaching twenty-six months, she knew all of
them, upper and lower case. It is true that her pronunciational mastery lagged her alphabetic grasp. You may not
know of the letter “Bubble Dew.” It exists.
At three, she was reading. Yes, it was, “Billy chased the cat up the tree,” not “the eschatological significance
of the kerygma.” Still, it was reading. It was what millions of kids who have finished school cannot do, even at
the cat-and-tree level. She thought it was splendid fun. It did not occur to her that any effort was involved. Of
course Daddy was making an enormous fuss over her, which was not a discouragement. Daddy is that way about his girls.
How did I bring about this onset of literacy? The same way I later did with her sister, who also was reading well
before kindergarten. I told her that c said “kuh,” that a said “a” and t said “tuh.” Kuh-a-tuh. Cat. And look here,
Pumpkin, r says “err,” and if you put it in front of "at" you get err-a-tuh, rat. Ain’t that something?
She agreed that it was. Indeed she received all of this occult lore with attention and no visible puzzlement.
It quickly dawned on her that you could string these letter things together to express interesting thoughts.
Soon she could sound out words she didn’t remotely understand and, when the multitudinous exceptions and peculiarities
of English intruded, she simply learned them.
I don’t know. About a month.
I didn’t regard this as a miracle, because it wasn’t one. Kids have been learning to read practically forever.
They are absorptive creatures, awash in curiosity. A couple of dozen letters, associated sounds, retentive memories,
and voila! There is nothing to it. It is easy.
And yet somehow, inconceivably, many children never learn to read. Now that’s a miracle, like levitating a ’54 Merc
while sober. How can you keep children from learning for twelve years what a couple of small girls learned in a month?
Another question is how kids can be kept from wanting to read. Here too we have enacted a marvel that ranks with the
fishes and loaves. When I was about seven, I was a literary omnivore, coming back from the library in Westover with
armloads of indiscriminately chosen everything. The Orange Book of fairy tales, the Red Book, etc., Greek mythology,
Kipling, WWII, battleships, what have you. I would happily attribute this to my unparalleled brilliance if I could
find evidence. Unfortunately other kids were doing the same thing.
The drug store sold Hardy Boys books, Tom Swift, the Lone Ranger, long rows of them. Presumably they weren’t there
exclusively for me. I remember inventing what I called “sneak reading.” When supposedly I was going to sleep, I held
the plug of my reading lamp just far enough into the socket to turn it on, so that I could quietly turn it off by
pulling it out slightly should I hear creaking floorboards. I was fooling my parents less than I thought I was, but
this revelation came later. At various times I used flashlights and candles. (Book matches don't work. I know.)
I have since learned that all sorts of kids did the same thing. So much for my uniqueness in the universe.
How do you render witless kids who by their nature want to know everything? In the early Fifties, when I was a wee tyke,
toy stores sold chemistry sets. (Gilbert. One had fifty bottles.) You did actual sort of chemistry with them. They had the
alcohol lamp, test tubes, NiChrome wire for jack-leg spectroscopy, as well as cobalt chloride, phenolpthalein, sodium
silicate, sodium thiosulfate, and such like. There was a sphinthariscope so you could watch radium decaying and perhaps
eat it and get bone cancer, and a booklet that explained atomic structure and the difference between atomic number and
atomic weight.
In toy stores. For ordinary little boys. The same stores had Gilbert microscopes, though mine was a fifteen-dollar better
model from Edmund Scientific. I knew about well slides, cover glasses, Canada balsam, Volvox, rotifers, every bug in the
garden, paramecia, planaria. Michel Duquez and I slit our wrists ever so slightly so that we could look at blood. We were
not gooberish socially defective nerds obsessed with science. We had baseball mitts and comic-book collections and explored
storm sewers.
School? Much better then than now. At Robert E. Lee Elementary on Lee Highway we learned more fractions and English
grammar than many college graduates today know. Smart women had not yet all become useless lawyers. Yet even then
schools were tedious jails, robot factories. They refused to let kids learn what they were ready to learn.
In second grade my teacher decided that I was retarded. We were reading about a family of beavers, and Mrs Beaver
had three sticks and Little Bitty Beaver had four, and how many did they have together? I didn’t really care. I wanted to
read my astronomy book. I guess it showed.
So a psychologist lady came from the school board and every day for a week she tested me to put me in an asylum.
Could I hear and see, she wanted to know? Yes, lady, actually, and now can I read my astronomy book? She had some dimwitted tests of logic and then of vocabulary, which I had lots of because I hadn’t been paying attention in school. In those days school wasn’t quite a place intended to keep kids from learning, but it was getting there.
Finally the psychologist lady told my teacher that I was bored. She could have asked me.
©Fred Reed 2005
Read More by Fred Reed at his website - click here
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(PRWEB) December 12, 2004 -- Over the past year, Edmund Scientific has hired a new catalog manager, added a multitude of new products with more on the way, launched an affiliate program and plunged full force into the world of online marketing. These changes and others seem to be paying off, as the company is seeing huge increases in both online and catalog sales. Traditionally, Edmund Scientific has provided its customers with the latest and best selling, unique science-related items. They have continued to remain true to this idea, while expanding to really give hobbyists of all ages and intensity levels what they are looking for.
When asked what the success can be attributed to, Edmund Scientific E-Commerce Analyst and Web Marketing Specialist Stephanie Pinger said, “Great new products, great timing and strong online/offline marketing efforts. We picked up some great hot sellers like the Robosapien Robot, Star Showers, Celestron VistaPix Binocular with a 3.0 Megapixel Digital Camera, and several Olympus Digital Cameras, including the Verve. In addition, we continue to see our traditional favorites like the Edmund Astroscan Telescope, rock tumblers and the Make Your Own Hot Sauce Kit sell very well. The energy level has been amazing and we are just being flooded with orders. That we have also been offering free standard shipping has also been a big draw.”
So what will the push be in the last two weeks before Christmas? Stephanie says, “I expect to see much of the same, as well as more and more our gift certificates selling well. There is always at least one person every year for whom you really don’t know what to buy. In that case, the gift certificates are always a nice alternative so that they can pick exactly what they want and don’t have to worry about exchanging the gift. We realized how important this really was and last year made it possible to buy them online, as well. Especially during this crunch time, more and more people opt for this sure bet.”
For more information about Edmund Scientifics, visit them online at scientificsonline. Request a free catalog or sign up to receive emails with great discounts and promotions.
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...When Many of Us Wake up Wondering What the Weather will be Like Today. Let Edmund Scientifics Help You Take the Guesswork out of Forecasting to Ensure That You and Your Loved Ones Are Safe and Warm this Winter.
(PRWEB November 14, 2004 -- Winter is fast approaching and along with it, the uncertainty of what Mother Nature has in store each day. Have you ever woken up curious about how to dress yourself or your kids, turned on the local news and discovered that the weather segment just ended? Or look outside and see the sun shining just to walk out the door and into to unexpectedly cold temperatures? Yes, ‘tis the season for weather uncertainty.
Though the typical image of winter is one that includes a snow-covered town somewhere in the north with smoke blowing out of every fireplace, winter certainly means something different to every region of the US. It can be a very calming and beautiful time, but it also has the potential to create some problematic situations. Regardless of the typical winter climate, it is certainly a time to be prepared.
With this in mind, Edmund Scientifics has recently added even more products to its line of weather equipment. Scientifics carries everything from thermometers and barometers to storm detectors and hi-tech wireless weather stations. Among the newly added products are several La Crosse Weather Stations. La Crosse is recognized as a leader in the weather station industry and is known for quality products. Edmund Scientifics has chosen a variety of weather stations that range in forecasting capability and price for everyone from the serious weather enthusiast to those looking for the perfect gift.
Edmund Scientifics still remains loyal to its classic, best selling weather forecasting instruments, as well. Noteworthy products include the 6-Foot Weather Balloon, the hand-blown Amazing Weather Ball, the Indoor/Outdoor Min/Max Thermometer .
In addition, Edmund Scientifics has also added several safety/emergency products to keep in the car. Along with high quality flashlights, new additions include keychain flashlights, batteries, Nomex/Kevlar blankets and Leatherman tools. With so many new products, you’re sure to stay safe and warm this winter with Edmund Scientifics.
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(PRWEB November 7, 2004 -- With the holiday season quickly approaching, gift giving is on everyone’s mind. What better gift to give a child than one that is useful, educational and, best of all, fun? Studies have shown that educational toys and games are beneficial to children’s intellectual and physical development. The potential for problem solving, creativity and social interaction all increase as a result of this sort of stimulation.
The large selection of Do-It-Yourself kits at Edmund Scientifics provides hours of entertainment while instilling children with applicable science knowledge and a curiosity about how things work. From Make-Your-Own- hot sauce, chocolate and root beer to Build-Your-Own- light saber, roller coaster and robot, there’s sure to be something to spark the interest of any child, as well as adult.
Edmunds Scientifics has been in the business of science fun and discovery for years. With the ongoing popularity of do-it-yourself programs and projects, it’s the perfect time to highlight Edmund’s line of Do-It-Yourself Science Projects . Remaining true to their vision of combining science education and fun, these kits provide varying levels of learning and lots of fun.
Among the most popular Do-It-Yourself kits are the kit Make Your Own Hot Sauce, which allows you to test your taste buds; the Elementary Chemistry Set, where even elementary students can set up their own experiments; the Brew Your Own Root Beer Kit, which brews four
gallons of delicious old fashioned root beer; and the Ultimate Robot Kit , the giant kit that includes almost everything needed to construct four instructional robots and one customized robot.
In addition to Make-Your-Own kits, Edmund also features a large line of Construction Kits that allow children to build their own toys. Among these are several kits K’NEX, as well as kits from Erector, KnuckleStrutz, LogiBlocs and Fischertechnik. These Construction Kits are also appealing because of the wide range of products from beginner to very advanced and from young to old. Regardless of interest or age, there really is something for everyone.
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(PRWEB November 4, 2004 -- The holiday season is fast approaching and in preparation, Edmund Scientific has added over 200 new products to its latest catalog and over 300 online.
Edmund is traditionally known for its service to science enthusiasts and hobbyists. Over the years, the scope has broadened to include fun discovery and exploration kits, toys and games for all curious minds.
One of this season’s hottest items is Star Showers with its hypnotic light show. The “star showers” that are produced are contained within a hand-blown hourglass-shaped chamber.
With one simple turn of the hourglass, Star Showers creates a magical display of light, as the “stars” begin to fall. These mysterious stars are actually glass beads that have a special phosphor coating. Phosphors are substances known for giving off light, or fluorescing, after being exposed to light. This creates a warm and attractive glow that the stars radiate, even after they have fallen. As the fallen stars begin to accumulate at the bottom, the intensity increases creating a radiant shine.
Part of the attraction to Star Showers is that every turn of the chamber results in a unique display of lights and afterglow, the beauty of which is only to be challenged by the next turn. The free-pivoting design of the chamber allows for easy rotation of the glass chamber, both backward and forward. In addition, the attractive designer base is the perfect accent to any home or office. Star Showers is conveniently offered in both black and silver to achieve the right effect. This amazing light show is controlled by and on/off selector switch and includes an AC adapter.
Star Showers is just one example of the unique new products that Edmund Scientific is proud to offer. Among other fun and thought-provoking items are:
Robosapien, Robot with Attitiude
R/C Wright Flyer - Anniversary Collectors Edition
Jensen Steam Engine Model Kit
Electronic Snap Circuits 300
And museum-quality dinosaur replicas like the Tyrannosaurus rex Skeleton Model
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