Book Makes Having Fun a Science

Explorabook is a do-it-yourself children’s science book that’s really different.

It isn’t just to be read; it gives children 50 nifty things and funny experiments to do with attached devices.

For example, the front cover contains a spinner with a moire pattern which, when turned, creates gyrations of shifting color. The book later reveals how the pattern is created and explains that although it is “definitely real,” it exists only in your eyes.

Additional pages continue discussions and examples of optical illusions, including a particularly interesting one that shows Elvis looking more natural upside down than right side up.

A magnet encased in plastic and attached to the spiral binding is described as “one of Mother Nature’s funniest playthings.” There are several experiments children can do with the magnet, which also can be a compass and the basic part of an anti-gravity machine. (And, by the way, how many adults know that the word magnet comes from Magnesia, an area near ancient Greece where natural magnets were commonly found?)

Bacterial experiments can be conducted with two packets of “agar,” or bacteria snack food. With a gelatin made of agar, water and sugar, children can do several scientific exercises. To find where millions of bacteria might be hiding, stick a piece of Scotch tape into the dog’s dish, on some silverware or on a door knob. Remove it, place it in the agar bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Put the dish on a shelf in a cool place. Your bacterial dinner guests will arrive in about a week.

A collaborative effort between John Cassidy of Klutz Press and the Exploratorium, San Francisco’s famous hands-on science museum, Explorabook (suggested retail, $17.95) is available nationwide in bookstores and museum shops. You can find it at Southern California museums, Waldenbooks, B Dalton, the Nature Company and Eddie Bauer stores. If you can’t find it in your area, call Klutz Press, (415) 857-0888.

How popular is Explorabook? The Exploratorium’s in-house shop sold 2,000 copies in six weeks. That’s one every 10 minutes.

Checking Up on Your Grilling Abilities

Do you lack confidence in your ability to properly grill steaks or fish? Or to cook pork or poultry to appropriate doneness in the microwave?

Consider Bar-B-Chek, a new battery-powered kitchen gadget that helps you get the food done right. It takes the guesswork out of cooking beef, fish, pork or poultry on indoor or outdoor grills, in regular ovens or in microwaves.

This thermometer is different from most others because you don’t cook with it in the meat. You stick the probe into the meat after it’s been cooking, push a button and hold it. Within five seconds, a light will tell you whether the food’s done.

The thermometer runs on a lithium battery (which will need to be replaced in five to 10 years), is easy to clean and weighs only 1.3 ounces. Its manufacturers say it is accurate to within one degree, but degrees are not listed on the thermometer. It says “well”--there are two wells, one for pork and poultry, the other for beef--”medium” or “rare.”

Bar-B-Chek (suggested retail, $18.95) is available nationwide in gourmet shops, kitchen and department stores. (A deluxe model with six doneness readings is available for $24.95.) In Southern California, you can find it at May Co. and BBQ’s Galore. Or order Bar-B-Chek from Chef’s Catalogue, (800) 338-3232, or Colonial Gardens Catalogue, (800) 752-5552. If you can’t find Bar-B-Cheks in stores near you, call Maverick Industries’ toll-free number: (800) 526-0954.

When It Comes to Clean, Try Green

The start of a new year is a good time to be reminded of an oldie but goody: Simple Green, a nontoxic, biodegradable cleaner that has more uses than you can count. In addition to its household form, it is also available in an eight-ounce concentrate for automotive cleaning (suggested retail, $4).

Developed 17 years ago by a California chemical engineer and his son, Simple Green was one of the early environmentally safe cleaning products. It will take the grease off your car engine or clean wheels, tires and chrome.

Indoors, the non-abrasive solution has a variety of uses: for cleaning tile, linoleum, vinyl or glass; as an additive to the laundry, or dilute it and wash the windows or the dog. It also gets a greasy barbecue grill clean and leaves no toxic residue or smell.

The automotive cleaner can be found in automotive stores nationwide; in Los Angeles, you can find it at Pep Boys and Trak Auto. Household Simple Green is available in several sizes at supermarkets, hardware and discount department stores.