3 ms·

Magician's Own Book: Experiments in Electricity (1862)

29 points by thomassmith65 5y ago

thomassmith65 5y ago
And here is a 1932 interview with Elihu Thomson (co-founder of GE) in which he discusses reading this very book as a child https://youtu.be/Ik5BE5yMn4A?t=206 https://youtu.be/Ik5BE5yMn4A?t=206
- JKCalhoun 5y ago
  Yes, that is where I just saw this book mentioned. Absolutely love these kind of books. I became fascinated as a kid when I stumbled upon the unfortunately named The Boy Mechanic [1] at a friend of the family's farm house. I later found that there were a whole series [2]. Popular Mechanics did a newer version in the 1940's as well [3]. I discovered the two volumes of the mazing German set: The Way Things Work [4] (not so much DIY, I guess). I think there is just something about the older texts. Then there was the amazing 700 Science Experiments [5] put together by UNESCO (who knew UNESCO did books?). I suppose a poor community could put together a kind of school laboratory from such a book, teach real science. I seek out these kind of books now and am happy to now be able to peruse one of the oldest. [1] https://archive.org/details/theboymechanicvo12655gut/page/n5/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/theboymechanicvo12655gut/page/n5... https://archive.org/details/boymechanicthin00cogoog/page/n8/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/boymechanicthin00cogoog/page/n8/... [2] https://archive.org/details/boymechanicbook200chic2/page/n7/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/boymechanicbook200chic2/page/n7/... https://archive.org/details/boymechanicthing03unse/page/n5/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/boymechanicthing03unse/page/n5/m... https://archive.org/details/boymechanicthing04unse/page/n5/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/boymechanicthing04unse/page/n5/m... [3] https://archive.org/details/boymechanicbook100popu/page/n3/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/boymechanicbook100popu/page/n3/m... [4] https://archive.org/details/universalencyclo00lond/page/n5/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/universalencyclo00lond/page/n5/m... https://archive.org/details/waythingswork02newy/page/n5/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/waythingswork02newy/page/n5/mode... [5] https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780385052757/page/n3/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780385052757/page/n3/mode/...
  - xtiansimon 5y ago
    How did you miss _The Boy Electrician_ by Alfred P. Morgan (1913)?! One of my favorite library discoveries as a yout. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/63207/63207-h/63207-h.htm https://www.gutenberg.org/files/63207/63207-h/63207-h.htm
    - JKCalhoun 5y ago
      Thanks. There are a lot I missed.
cjohnson318 5y ago
Page 283 has a mnemonic for memorizing a knight's tour over a chess board. I did a project on this knights tours on arbitrary sized boards as an undergraduate.
ei8ths 5y ago
did everyone else just get recommended this video on youtube where he talks about as a kid reading this book?

29 points by thomassmith65 5y ago

And here is a 1932 interview with Elihu Thomson (co-founder of GE) in which he discusses reading this very book as a child https://youtu.be/Ik5BE5yMn4A?t=206 https://youtu.be/Ik5BE5yMn4A?t=206

JKCalhoun 5y ago
Yes, that is where I just saw this book mentioned. Absolutely love these kind of books. I became fascinated as a kid when I stumbled upon the unfortunately named The Boy Mechanic [1] at a friend of the family's farm house. I later found that there were a whole series [2]. Popular Mechanics did a newer version in the 1940's as well [3]. I discovered the two volumes of the mazing German set: The Way Things Work [4] (not so much DIY, I guess). I think there is just something about the older texts. Then there was the amazing 700 Science Experiments [5] put together by UNESCO (who knew UNESCO did books?). I suppose a poor community could put together a kind of school laboratory from such a book, teach real science. I seek out these kind of books now and am happy to now be able to peruse one of the oldest. [1] https://archive.org/details/theboymechanicvo12655gut/page/n5/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/theboymechanicvo12655gut/page/n5... https://archive.org/details/boymechanicthin00cogoog/page/n8/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/boymechanicthin00cogoog/page/n8/... [2] https://archive.org/details/boymechanicbook200chic2/page/n7/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/boymechanicbook200chic2/page/n7/... https://archive.org/details/boymechanicthing03unse/page/n5/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/boymechanicthing03unse/page/n5/m... https://archive.org/details/boymechanicthing04unse/page/n5/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/boymechanicthing04unse/page/n5/m... [3] https://archive.org/details/boymechanicbook100popu/page/n3/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/boymechanicbook100popu/page/n3/m... [4] https://archive.org/details/universalencyclo00lond/page/n5/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/universalencyclo00lond/page/n5/m... https://archive.org/details/waythingswork02newy/page/n5/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/waythingswork02newy/page/n5/mode... [5] https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780385052757/page/n3/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780385052757/page/n3/mode/...
- xtiansimon 5y ago
  How did you miss _The Boy Electrician_ by Alfred P. Morgan (1913)?! One of my favorite library discoveries as a yout. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/63207/63207-h/63207-h.htm https://www.gutenberg.org/files/63207/63207-h/63207-h.htm
  - JKCalhoun 5y ago
    Thanks. There are a lot I missed.

cjohnson318 5y ago

Page 283 has a mnemonic for memorizing a knight's tour over a chess board. I did a project on this knights tours on arbitrary sized boards as an undergraduate.

ei8ths 5y ago

did everyone else just get recommended this video on youtube where he talks about as a kid reading this book?