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Reminiscing on Father's Day

By chaoticutopia on June 17, 2007.

What a busy Sunday... I seem to have a lot of little things to post about, but I didn't want to forget to wish all the dads out there, especially my own, a happy Father's Day. I owe my Dad thanks for many things, including instilling my strong love for science.

I have this early memory of my dad, in a laboratory, surrounded by an elaborate maze of tubes and beakers. I suppose he probably took me through one of his chemistry classrooms when he was a student at the Colorado School of Mines. (I was just a little tot at the time.) Whatever it was, it sticks in my mind as one of the coolest things I ever saw.

i-aef527743845b96e77f6df508fe14f9e-mineslab.jpg

When I think of all the endless questions I asked my dad, and his patience in answering every one, I really think I was a lucky kid. I realized recently that I have something greater to thank him for--Dad showed me fractals for the first time.

He may not be keeping up on things like the latest cephalopod trends, but I must say, he's the best.

Thanks for all the inspiration you've given me over the years, Dad. Happy Father's Day!

The above image of a laboratory classroom at the Colorado School of Mines was taken in 1920, way before my Dad's time. The classroom I remember wasn't full of students, but it looked just like that, even almost 60 years later... columns in the center, bottles and beakers, and pipes running along the wall. Image via the the Western History and Geneoloy section of the Denver Public Library.

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TO paraphase The Joker in the first Batman movie: Where do you get all those wonderful photos?

But the real question, for me, is what wasgoing on at the Colorado School of Mines? That is, why all the bottles and detritus?

There's a story in that, not for a fractallist perhaps, but someone.

RR

The historical photo collection at our downtown library is a gold mine. I love rifling through it.

As for those bottles, like you said, I couldn't tell you why. I can, at least, give you something to speculate with. Here's a bit from the description:

Glass bottles with stoppers are labeled "ammon carbonate," "acid hydrochloric," and "ammon sulphide."

Karman,

Those bottle contents seem lethal. I wonder how many persons in the photo were affected by them.

How innocent we all were in years past, when asbestos and mercury, plus all the other chemicals and nostrums were playthings.

Your posted photos are quite wonderful (nostalgic) and a nice offset to the magnificent fractals.

RR