The Mad Scientist's Club book thread reminded me...I have been racking my brain and searching the net for years, trying to remember the titles of these books. Anyone who flies rockets and has been around awhile may be able to help...
When I was in middle school, there were two books in my school library. There may have been more in the series; I'm not sure. One was a weather book and one was a chemistry book. Both were introductory science books, but introduced the science in a juvenile fiction sense.
In the weather book, the protagonists were two boys. They learned about meteorology from their father (or fathers; they may not have been brothers). There was some detail; how to read a weather map, how to construct a NWS standard temp shelter with the louvered sides, how low and high pressure systems worked, different types of clouds, etc. Then they are on a flight which has to ditch and they are marooned on an island. They use meteorological principles for survival and rescue.
In the chemistry book, the same two protagonists are visiting relatives. Their cousin (I think) is a girl who is deeply into chemistry, and has a lab in a shed out back. She teaches them quite a bit. About setting up a lab, and about chemistry. I first encountered the notion of atomic valence in this book, as well as synthetic fibers. Toward the end the girl is embedding flowers into clear plastic cubes and sells them. The boys appeal to men by creating (for example) cubes with a minnow and small lure and line.
I WISH I could remember the title/author/anything that would let me track these down. They were very influential in my formative years, but I did not realize how much until later. By then, all good stuff like that had basically been purged from the local library system, and I have not been able to find them. Does anyone here have any recollection of these?
When I was in middle school, there were two books in my school library. There may have been more in the series; I'm not sure. One was a weather book and one was a chemistry book. Both were introductory science books, but introduced the science in a juvenile fiction sense.
In the weather book, the protagonists were two boys. They learned about meteorology from their father (or fathers; they may not have been brothers). There was some detail; how to read a weather map, how to construct a NWS standard temp shelter with the louvered sides, how low and high pressure systems worked, different types of clouds, etc. Then they are on a flight which has to ditch and they are marooned on an island. They use meteorological principles for survival and rescue.
In the chemistry book, the same two protagonists are visiting relatives. Their cousin (I think) is a girl who is deeply into chemistry, and has a lab in a shed out back. She teaches them quite a bit. About setting up a lab, and about chemistry. I first encountered the notion of atomic valence in this book, as well as synthetic fibers. Toward the end the girl is embedding flowers into clear plastic cubes and sells them. The boys appeal to men by creating (for example) cubes with a minnow and small lure and line.
I WISH I could remember the title/author/anything that would let me track these down. They were very influential in my formative years, but I did not realize how much until later. By then, all good stuff like that had basically been purged from the local library system, and I have not been able to find them. Does anyone here have any recollection of these?
