What did you want to be when you were a kid?

When I was a child my parents gave my brother what was called a ‘chemistry set.’ This consisted of a small set of chemicals and substances in very cute little glass test tubes. Then, there was a ‘mentholated spirits’ burner, a little glass jar with a lid and cotton wick. You used this burner to heat chemicals in the test tubes and make things change color, make interesting smells and so on. The chemistry set came with a little book of simple experiments you could do at home.   I found this all very interesting.  My mother liked the fact that both her children were interested in ‘science’ but she believed that a chemistry set was basically a very cute waste of money. She felt, quite correctly, that if one wants to practice chemical experiments at home then it is much easier and cheaper to buy the simple chemicals and substances (things like copper sulphate crystals) in bulk and you could buy test tubes and flasks in bulk as well. So, she spent quite a lot of money on all this equipment so that one of the rooms of our house became a laboratory as well as play room.

Unfortunately, my interest in science was very short lived.  I think the truth is I just liked looking at the well-organized and cool looking chemistry set which was, in fairness to me, designed to seduce the unformed mind of a child with its general design. I went on to become desirous of being a professional violinist, a goal I achieved over the years while all those jars of chemicals and test tubes were left to accumulate dust in a forgotten corner of my childhood playroom.