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Table of Contents:
INTRODUCTION
ADVENTURE
1 We Peer through Our Lens at Some Familiar Objects
2 We Listen to Some Music and Discover How It Is Played
3 We Give Seeds More Than a Passing Glance
4 We Become Better Acquainted with the Snail
5 We Inquire into the Nature of Rusting
6 We Meet the Insect Brownies
7 We Visit Fairyland
8 We Examine a Feather
9 We Learn the Meaning of the Word Catkin
10 We Study the Wings of Insects
11 We Watch Some Acrobats Perform
12 We Go Botanizing
13 We Compare Insect Antennae
14 We See How Ants Keep Clean
15 We Find out how the Earthworm Moves
16 We Discover that There Are Different Kinds of Hairs
17 We Spy on the Aphids
18 We Become Familiar with the Eating Habits of Insects
19 We Look a Spider in the Eye
20 We Investigate the Structure of Grass Flowers
21 We Hunt a Lion
22 We Trace a Tadpole's Development
23 We Encounter Some Hitchhikers
24 We Make the Acquaintance of Some Housebuilders
25 We Come Upon Some More Housebuilders
26 We Ascertain how the Leech Sucks Blood
27 We Identify Some Ferns
28 We View the Scale Insects
29 We Undertake the Study of Minerals
30 We Consider Some Diagonistic Characters
31 We Inspect the Breathing Apparatus of Some Aquatic Insects
32 We Do Some Fishing
33 We Turn Our Attention to Buds
34 We Trace Some Tunnels
35 We Continue Our Study of Minerals
36 We Scrutinize a Miniature Pepper Box
37 We Invade the Privacy of Gall Makers
38 We Are Introduced to Some Queer Plants
39 We Stand Corrected that Eggs Are Not Always Egg-Shaped
40 We Play Amateur Petrologists
41 We Marvel at Nature's Ingenuity
42 We Breed Some Flies
43 We Explore the Subject of Variation
44 We Get to Know the Barnacle
45 We Seek the Liverwort
46 We Set Some Traps
47 We Quest for Oil
48 We Assume the Role of Farmers
49 We Are Intrigued by an Ingenious Mechanism
50 We Probe into a Complicated Life History
Marc Notes:
Unabridged and slightly revised republication of the work originally published by J. B. Lippincott Company, New York, in 1962..
Publisher Marketing:
With an ordinary magnifying glass and this book as your guide, 50 adventures in close observation await you. These entertaining nature studies take you on field trips in and around your home, calling attention to interesting features of dozens of familiar or overlooked plants, insects, and other animals, and common materials like cloth, quartz, and the paper on which this book is printed.
A great deal of basic natural-science theory and detail is presented in this delightful narrative. Flowers and grasses, fish scales, moth and insect wings, egg cases, buds, feathers, seeds, leaf scars, moss, molds, ferns, and common crystals are among the many structures examined, often comparatively. Many natural processes and behavior patterns are observed -- seed dispersal and other methods of reproduction, protective coloration, rusting symbiosis, fertilization of the soil, breathing and case building of insects, and many others, all with only an inexpensive hand lens as equipment and with "specimens" you probably pass by going for a walk. More than 200 labeled illustrations accompany the text.
The author is a former teacher and associate curator of the New England Museum of Natural History. No previous science background is assumed of readers, and curious readers of almost any age will find this book an interesting introduction to numerous facets of nature study.
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