The American Basic Science Club (ABSC) was a small mail-order business founded by my father, James S. Kerr, in 1957. ABSC sold hands-on science kits, mainly to boys ages 12 to 16. Delivered monthly by subscription, the kits featured experiments in electronics, optics, analog computing, atomic energy, photography, weather forecasting, and more. Some individual kits were also sold at retail through Sears Roebuck and Edmund Scientific. The company ceased operations in the early 1980s.
As a child, I built a few of the kits, but never the entire series. Fortunately, I still had a 90% complete set and was able to find many of the missing components online. In 2024, I decided to work my way through the kits, creating a tribute to my father's work and the joy these kits brought to so many.
This website includes videos of each experiment I completed, along with all the original documentation from the kits. I hope you enjoy exploring the history of ABSC!
The information on this website is for historical and educational purposes only. The American Basic Science Club (ABSC) kits were first developed in the mid-20th century and do not conform to modern safety standards. Any ABSC kits you find today are several decades old and in deteriorating condition, causing additional safety concerns.
I do not recommend attempting to assemble or use these kits. Any individual who chooses to do so assumes all risks and full responsibility for their own safety and the safety of others.
Includes pictures of the original ads, some of the kits, and the founder James S. Kerr.
Here you can view the ABSC documentation and the videos I made of each completed experiment. The kits I had were from the 1970s series, which consisted of 10 monthly kits.
The videos will be much more meaningful if you will read the documentation for each experiment before watching the corresponding video. Files beginning with "DOC" are the documentation that was included with each kit. Files beginning with "VID" are the videos I made of each completed experiment.
KIT 1: Includes the electrical lab with power transformer, electro-chemical projects, neon lamp, Mystery Shock Box, relay, solenoid, magnetizer/demagnetizer, and more.
View Kit 1 Documentation and Videos
KIT 2: Includes a DC power supply, voltmeter, Wheatstone Bridge, low-speed strobe light, and more.
View Kit 2 Documentation and Videos
KIT 3: Includes an amplifier, oscillator, high-speed strobe light, sound experiments, ripple tank, and more.
View Kit 3 Documentation and Videos
KIT 4: Includes shortwave and broadcast radio, audio amplifier, microphone, transmitter, and more.
View Kit 4 Documentation and Videos
KIT 5: Includes a telescope, microscope, lamp housing, optical lab, camera lucida, and more.
View Kit 5 Documentation and Videos
KIT 6: Includes a projector (35 mm and micro), spectroscope, ultraviolet lamp, and more.
View Kit 6 Documentation and Videos
KIT 7: Includes an analog computer, weather station wind vane, and indicator board.
View Kit 7 Documentation and Videos
KIT 8: Includes an atomic energy lab, thermal energy lab, barometer, anemometer, sling psychrometer, and more.
View Kit 8 Documentation and Videos
KIT 9: Includes a photography lab, photomicrography camera, photo cell projects, and more.
View Kit 9 Documentation and Videos
KIT 10: Includes talking on a light beam, a photoelectric relay, a surveyor’s transit with a telescope mount, and more.
View Kit 10 Documentation and Videos
Comments or Questions? You can reach me here: absctribute@gmail.com