One of many in a series of annual Christmas lectures given by Bassam Z. Shakhashiri, a Lebanese chemistry educator who spent most of his career at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The 1996 lecture includes the combustibility of different elements and chemicals, the chemistry around household products, creating polyurethane foam, experiments with solid state carbon dioxide, liquid nitrogen, acid and bases, and appearances by Bucky, the UW mascot; Santa Claus; and UW Chemistry professor Fred Juergens (who is about to retire and receives a gift from Shakhashiri). This video was taken from a DVD, which itself was made from an unknown magnetic tape. Any distortions in the image and sound of the video are inherent in the DVD itself.