Light a match - that's science. Demand it inflame a second time - that's magic. Some would get a second match, some would wait in faith - and demand the first group charitably share during the intervening interval. Then, burn the witches with their own Devil's wands.

Bah.

But on the plus side, my youngest was trying to decide what she wants for her 8th birthday. I suggested a chemistry set.

*BEAMS* all round. Then when we were in a craft shop last night she was whining because there was so much cool stuff, and could she buy *this* now, and have *that* for her birthday?

"I thought you wanted a chemistry set?"

"Oh Yes!" *smiles*.

And yet she wants to be a surgeon when she grows up. I'm keeping this one, she's special.

Maybe we should be glad that there is still a chemistry set available, magic or otherwise. Is there a physics set or a geology set?

Revathi, it turns out that the 'best' one we could buy is little more than a glorified microscopy primer. It comes with a microscope (which looks to be the coolest part of the kit) and citric acid, bicarb and pH paper. Sigh.

I see a great need for proper children's chemistry sets for discerning parents, like what we had when I were a nipper.

Dear Richard,

Tell me more about this chemistry set that you had.
What experiments could you do with it?

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
Arthur C. Clarke's 3rd of prediction. (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke's_three_laws)

Weren't the original chemists called magicians or alchemists?

So if my 7 year old nephew has a tendency towards magical thinking, why not give him a chemistry set and let him start from the beginning? I suspect that most chemists had similar dreams when were young and become skeptical because their imaginations were squashed by the limitations of scientific thinking.