Author: Ian Gibson

Annie Elfrida McLane lives in a little brown house of the South Dakota prairie, within sight of the Black Hills. Her father is a widower and prospects for gold there; Annie lives at home with her grandmother and the servants, Marthy Stubbs and Pete Pumpernickle. Annie has no neighbours, no other children to play with, and no school to attend; she is sometimes lonely and despondent. She is dependent for company on her black cat Silvertip, the farm animals around her, and creatures of the surrounding fields and meadows that she sometimes makes her pets. In the summer when she turns six years old, Annie rescues a wounded prairie dog from a trap. It is a strange little animal, and the other creatures of Annie's world are afraid of it. Annie makes a little house for the prairie dog, but the animal soon escapes back to the wild. Follow their adventures. ( Michele Eaton )

2Autobiography of an Electron

By Charles R. Gibson

"While many scientific men now understand our place in the universe, we electrons are anxious that every person should know the very important part which we play in the workaday world. It was for this reason that my fellow-electrons urged me to write my own biography. I am pleased to say that my relationship with the scribe who has put down my story in the following pages has been of the most friendly description. I have allowed him to place what he calls "The Scribe's Note" at the beginning of each chapter, but it will be understood clearly that these are merely convenient embellishments, and that I am responsible for the story of my own experiences." (Introduction adapted from the text)

"The narrative of these two journeys is of special interest, because the first one, that made by my twin sister, Mrs. Lewis, and myself, in 1892, led to the discovery of an early and important codex of ancient Syriac gospels... while that made by us this year in company with [more Cambridge scholars and their wives] was undertaken for the purpose of deciphering the precious manuscript to which we have alluded. <br><br> "Abler pens than mine will write about these Syriac gospels... yet on me devolves the task of telling how the codex was found. Many inaccurate statements have been made by too hasty writers in our public prints, and it has occurred to me that the best means of removing misconceptions on the subject is to reprint my sister's journal of our trips to Sinai in 1892 and 1893." - Margaret Dunlop Gibson

From the series, The Library of Romance, this book introduces the reader to the modern concepts of electricity. The author discusses how man came to know about electricity, and how it powers the world of 1910.

It is not the author's purpose in the present volume to give any instruction in the practice of photography. There are many works dealing with the practical side of the subject. His object is to tell the romantic story of the discovery of this wonderful art, and the steps by which its range has been extended until it can achieve results which only a few years ago would have been thought impossible. A glance at the list of chapters will show what a wide field photography now covers, and what service it renders to man, both in his everyday life and in his most subtle scientific researches. - Summary by The Author

Those of us who have grown up with the results of <i>Modern Manufacture</i> around us are apt to miss the romance of the subject. Indeed, it is difficult for us to realize how very different were the conditions in which our great-grandfathers, and even our grandfathers, lived and worked. In the present volume the author has endeavored to trace the evolution of the different industries, and to describe in everyday language the methods of manufacture in our principle industries. In order to keep the book as readable as possible, he has omitted many names and dates, but sufficient detail is given to enable the general reader to form a clear conception of the different subjects. (Summary adapted from the Preface)

The author was an American diplomat, the Secretary of the American Legation in Brussels, at the beginning of World War I in 1914. This book consists of his edited selections from his daily journal, giving a firsthand look at the chaotic atmosphere before and throughout Germany's invasion of Belgium. His position as a diplomat of the then-neutral United States gave him an invaluable perspective from which to report on the deliberations of military and civilian decision-makers, the reactions of the public to the unfolding calamity, and the efforts of international relief organizations to meet the urgent needs of a flood of refugees. (Summary by Ted Lienhart)