back when atoms were cool, daddy-o...

Last night I discovered the website archive.org and it's curious depository of all things public domain. The most remarkable find has to be the huge stockpile of short films from the 1950's... particularly the science films. Wow. These are going to get some serious mileage in my science classes... movies about X-rays and satellites and the wonder of "stereophonic sound". But the best has got to be "A is for Atom". Not only is all of the animation just... sublimely vintage, but content-wise... the thing is actually pretty fucking well done. There is no way I'm ever teaching about nuclear isotopes again without showing this film. I encourage everyone to go there and poke around in the collection. (And if you stumble upon the one about "springs"... well... prepare to be utterly perplexed.)