Edmund Scientific Corporation

Edmund Scientific Corporation, based in Barrington, New Jersey, was founded in 1942 as a retailer of surplus optical parts like lenses.

[2] The business continued in the post-war era and owned so much stock that when the Korean War started the military came to him for the optics needed to repair war-era systems.

They continued to grow as a supplier to teachers and schools with demonstration devices and kits which covered most fields of science.

Other items catering to the counterculture were eventually added to the catalog covering the fields of Biofeedback, ESP, Kirlian photography, Pyramid power, and alternative energy.

In 1971, in the Whole Earth Catalog of items "relevant to independent education", Stewart Brand noted: "Edmund is the best source we know of for low-cost scientific gadgetry (including math and optics gear).

[In this category,] many of the items we found independently... turned up in the Edmund catalog, so we were obliged to recommend that in this area we've been precluded.

"[2] Some sources claim that certain of the original polyhedral dice used in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game system were obtained from Edmund Scientific.

[2] Edmund Scientifics marketed to consumers and specialized in science-themed toys, vaguely high-tech household gadgets, and "science gifts."

They also sold other surplus wares of interest to hobbyists, including specialized motors and other miscellaneous electronics, parts from toys, and other household items.

[5] In 2001, the Barrington, New Jersey, store closed after Edmund Scientific was acquired by Science Kit and Boreal Laboratories.

[citation needed] Edmund Scientific has provided items used in television shows such as House, MythBusters, 24, Modern Marvels, and motion pictures such as Star Trek, and the 1975 version of Escape to Witch Mountain.