CHAPTER IWHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY? Wise men study the sciences which deal with the origins and development of animal life, with the structure of the cells, with the effect of various diseases upon the tissues and fluids of the body; they study the causes of the reactions of the body cells to disease germs, and search for the origin and means of extermination of these enemies to health. They study the laws of... more...

INTRODUCTION A major emergency affecting a large number of people may occur anytime and anywhere. It may be a peacetime disaster such as a flood, tornado, fire, hurricane, blizzard or earthquake. It could be an enemy nuclear attack on the United States. In any type of general disaster, lives can be saved if people are prepared for the emergency, and know what actions to take when it occurs. With the... more...

In admiring the recent developments of electric science as evidenced by the number of important inventions which have during the past few years been given to the world, especially in those branches of applied science which deal more particularly with the generation of electricity and the production of the electric light, there is often too great a tendency to forget, or, at least, to pass over in... more...

The Plan of the Book. In the preparation of this book the author has had two great plans in mind: To prepare a work which will enable any person, who can speak to a class or an audience, to give a helpful, inspiring illustrated talk; to place in the hands of parents everywhere a book to enable them to teach the children a simple, fascinating method of drawing and, at the same time make the great truths... more...

A HORSEMAN IN THE SKY I One sunny afternoon in the autumn of the year 1861 a soldier lay in a clump of laurel by the side of a road in western Virginia. He lay at full length upon his stomach, his feet resting upon the toes, his head upon the left forearm. His extended right hand loosely grasped his rifle. But for the somewhat methodical disposition of his limbs and a slight rhythmic movement of the... more...

INTRODUCTION The history of the evolution of life, incomplete as it yet is, already reveals to us how the intellect has been formed, by an uninterrupted progress, along a line which ascends through the vertebrate series up to man. It shows us in the faculty of understanding an appendage of the faculty of acting, a more and more precise, more and more complex and supple adaptation of the consciousness... more...

CHAPTER I. BIRTH.—EDUCATION.—CAMPAIGN WITH BRUTUS AND CASSIUS. Like the two greatest lyrists of modern times, Burns and Béranger, Horace sprang from the ranks of the people. His father had been a slave, and he was himself cradled among "the huts where poor men lie." Like these great lyrists, too, Horace was proud of his origin. After he had become the intimate associate of the first men in... more...

I. GENERAL ACTIVITIES OF LIVING ORGANISMS. The casual observer, even if he watches thoughtfully the various activities of plants and animals, would hardly believe these activities capable of classification into two general classes. He notes the germination of the plant seed and its early growth, step by step approaching a stage of maturity; it blossoms, produces seed, and if it is an annual plant,... more...

PRELUDE. Two lads had crossed the sunny meadow-land of childhood and stood by the gate, at the entrance to the rougher paths of youth leading up to the grander heights of maturity. They glanced backward, but not with regret, for their eyes shone with eagerness to climb the upward way. As they waited, an angel came bearing a gift for each, which he gave them, saying: “I have brought you a wondrous... more...

CHAPTER I. THE ROMAN EMPIRE AT THE TIME OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. Upwards of a quarter of a century before the Birth of Christ, the grandnephew of Julius Caesar had become sole master of the Roman world. Never, perhaps, at any former period, had so many human beings acknowledged the authority of a single potentate. Some of the most powerful monarchies at present in Europe extend over only a fraction of... more...