So You be a Chemist?

Chemistry Laboratory Stories
It all started in the usenet news group sci.chem where Randal W. Pick wrote:

All *true* chemists must have had at least one or two spectacular 
accidents while they were in school learning the science and craft.
 Here's one of mine (let's hear yours):

And then it went from there!
Here is a list of spectacular accidents and other horror stories from chemistry labs and schools around the world
(These are text files, you may need to use your browser's < back> function to come back to this page)

Added December 1996

Heating benzene over a beaker from Jim Scripko
How not to do a practical demonstration from Keith Wilkins
What happens when you mix 50 000 gallons of sulfuric acid and caustic soda? from R.W. Pick
Breathing 100% Nitrogen - part 2 from John Lobaugh
A Flaming hand from AJ Bentley
Capsaicin in the Lab from Pete Simpson
And some information on Chilli and other spices from Uncle Al
Ever put a glass capillary through your finger? from anonymous@sparkey.midwest.net
Ouch! Glass tubing through his hand! from Eric Lucas
More Trouble with liquid nitrogen from Bill Penrose
Some of my exploits in the Laboratory from Philip Clarke
Trouble with Sodium wire and a near asphixiation from Juah Tenhosaari
This time a Hg thermometer through a hand and two stirrer bars from Chris Miller
Some more chemistry accidents from Uncle Al

Added October to November 1996

Have you ever spilled acid on your jeans? from John Morriss
Have you ever spilled acid on your jeans? (number 2) from Bill Penrose
Trouble distilling acetonefrom Keith Rickert
Innocent looking dry white powder in a dessicator from G.Cote
Trouble with boiling chips and ... from Stephen Gilbert
The adventures of a formulation chemist from Bruce Hamilton
A variation on the Sodium down the sink, Grignard reagent down the sink from Jordan Wosnick
Don't do that again, a problem with perchlorates from Martin Lindsay
How not to make powdered LiAl₄ from Ulrich Schatzschneider
A story of school day chemistry from Jeff Elliott
Another school daze story from Ben Carter
More school daze (chemistry teachers must be in short supply?) from Randal Pick
Don't try this at home (Old chemistry teacher never die, they just reach equilibrium?) from jacktrax@aol.com
I wonder what will happen when you put some sodium down the sink? from Bruce Mills
More sodium went down that sink! from Patrick Simcox
Anybody who reads sci.chem will know of "Uncle Al" Schwartz
A joke about organic chemists!? from Micheal Coughtrie
Some adventures with Sulfuric Acid
More sulfuric acid tales From Dave Freeman.
Ammonia and HCl from Carl Wright
Puddles of water that were NaOH pellets Spencer Davis
A bottle of conc. ammonia from Frank Hollis
Bunsen Burner trials 2 from J. Evans
Bunden Burner trials 3 from The original Mad alCHEMIST
Flying Burettes from Max Hendrix
Accidents at an Industrial scale Paul Gunn
Another Bunsen Burner trial from Max Hendrix
Spraying acid around a lab from Max Hendrix
Nitrogen Triiodide in the lab from Kel
35^oC Max. thermometer at 100^oC from Ken Mantei
Muzzle velocity of liquid in a testtube from Dan Moore

I dedicate this page to my PhD supervisor who didn't realise that innocent white powder in a desicator he was washing was P₂O₅. (That was the last time I ever saw him in a laboratory!)