" Nuclear spheres" for making a model of an alpha particle.Four glass jars containing natural uranium-bearing ( U-238) ore samples ( autunite, torbernite, uraninite, and carnotite from the " Colorado plateau region").Wilson cloud chamber with short-lived alpha source ( Po-210) in the form of a wire.The set originally sold for $49.50 (equivalent to $560 in 2021 ) and contained the following: The Gilbert catalog copy included the reassurance that "All radioactive materials included with the Atomic Energy Lab have been certified as completely safe by Oak-Ridge Laboratories, part of the Atomic Energy Commission." This will raise the level of the background count", thus impairing the results of experiments by distorting the performance of the Geiger counter. : 333–334 The instructions encouraged laboratory cleanliness by cautioning users not to break the seals on three of the ore sample jars, for "they tend to flake and crumble and you would run the risk of having radioactive ore spread out in your laboratory. Gilbert's original promotions claimed that none of the materials could prove dangerous. The lab contained a cloud chamber allowing the viewer to watch alpha particles traveling at 12,000 miles per second (19,000,000 m/s), a spinthariscope showing the results of radioactive disintegration on a fluorescent screen, and an electroscope measuring the radioactivity of different substances in the set. Gilbert also defended his Atomic Energy Laboratory, stating it was safe, accurate, and that some of the country's best nuclear physicists had worked on the project. Gilbert wrote that the Government encouraged the set's development because it believed the lab would aid public understanding of atomic energy and emphasize its constructive aspects. In 1954, Gilbert wrote in his autobiography, The Man Who Lives in Paradise, that the Atomic Energy Laboratory was "the most spectacular of new educational toys". For parents, he pushed the idea that the sets' use of chemical reactions directed their children toward a potential career in science and engineering. Gilbert’s toys often included instructions on how the child could use the set to put on his own "magic show". The Atomic Energy Lab was just one of a dozen chemical reactions lab kits on the market at the time. Gilbert was even dubbed "the man who saved Christmas" during World War I when he convinced the US Council of National Defense not to ban toy purchases during Christmas time. Gilbert believed that toys were the foundation in building a "solid American character", and many of his toys had some type of educational significance to them.
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