Industrial Processes
Many industrial processes, while not employing complicated machinery, nevertheless possess much interest, both from an historical and a technical point of view, and on these the new Britannica is as complete and authentic as in all other departments. Especially useful and entertaining to children will be found the material relating to the manufacture of the common objects by which they are surrounded. Such, for instance, are Ceramics (Vol. 5, p. 703), by William Burton and several other experts, with beautiful illustrations; Glass (Vol. 12, p. 86), by Harry James Powell, author of Glass Making, etc., Alexander Nesbitt, and William Rosenhain of the National Physical Laboratory, England; and Process (Vol. 22, p. 408), an illustrated account, by Edwin Bale, of the photomechanical processes by which illustrations are reproduced in printing.
These and hundreds of similar articles will prove most helpful and suggestive to school-children who are constantly called on to prepare “themes” and write compositions. As soon as a child makes acquaintance with the new Britannica he will quickly realize its inexhaustible resources, and the aid it lends him in his studies will be continued throughout the course of his life, in his business and in his general reading.
Explorers’ Voyages and Journeys
Children love to read adventures of explorers in forcing their way to unknown lands. The impression they make is much clearer when the child has learned to distinguish the different motives which have led to discovery and to exploration—commercial expansion, fresh conquests, religious zeal, flight from persecution, or the advancement of knowledge for its own sake. With such information he will read in a new light the stirring history of adventure, the great story of hardship and endurance.
The Britannica presents all this on a definite, scientific plan. The inquirer starts on his trip through any field of learning with guide-posts clearly marked, and successive ones in sight one from the other; so that there is no going astray, no uncertain wandering. A reader—young or old—with taste for exploration and adventure may turn first to Geography, Progress of Geographical Discovery (Vol. 11, p. 623), by Dr. H. R. Mill, editor of The International Geography. This article outlines geographical discovery in chronological order from the days of the Phoenicians. The reader will doubtless make excursions into other parts of the books for more detailed accounts, but he has always this main article to guide him. He will go to the article on Herodotus (Vol. 13, p. 381), the traveler, by Canon George Rawlinson, the great Oriental archaeologist, and the Rev. E. M. Walker of Oxford University; and to the story of Pytheas (Vol. 22, p. 703), the Greek navigator who brought the first definite news of northwestern Europe to the Mediterranean world, by Sir Edward H. Bunbury, author of A History of Ancient Geography, and Dr. C. R. Beazley of the University of Birmingham. Other stories of exploration and adventure are: Viking (Vol. 28, p. 62), by Charles F. Keary, author of The Vikings in Western Christendom; Leif Ericsson (Vol. 16, p. 396), the first European to set foot on the American continent, by Prof. C. R. Beazley; Vinland (Vol. 28, p. 98), with all the latest known facts of Leif’s discovery, by Prof. J. E. Olson of the University of Wisconsin; the marvelous career of the great Venetian discoverer, Polo, Marco (Vol. 22, p. 7), boldest of medieval travelers, by Sir Henry Yule, author of The Book of Ser Marco Polo, and Prof. C. R. Beazley; Henry of Portugal (the Navigator) (Vol. 13, p. 296); Diaz de Novaes (Vol. 8, p. 172); Columbus, Christopher (Vol. 6, p. 741)—all of these by Professor Beazley; |America—Its Discoverers and Conquerors| Gama, Vasco Da (Vol. 11, p. 433), who discovered the Cape route to India; Pinzon (Vol. 21, p. 631); Vespucci, Amerigo (Vol. 27, p. 1053), by Professor Beazley; Balboa, Vasco Nuñez de (Vol. 3, p. 241), discoverer of the Pacific Ocean; Cabot (Vol. 4, p. 921), by H. P. Biggar, author of The Voyages of the Cabots to Greenland; Magellan, Ferdinand (Vol. 17, p. 302), the first circumnavigator of the globe, by Professor Beazley; Soto, Ferdinando de (Vol. 25, p. 435), wrongly called the discoverer of the Mississippi; Peru, History (Vol. 21, p. 274), by Sir Clements R. Markham, author of Travels in Peru and India, a full account of Pizarro’s conquest; Cortes, Hernan (Vol. 7, p. 205), a concise and able description of the conquest of Mexico; Cartier, Jacques (Vol. 5, p. 433), which tells of the discovery of the St. Lawrence; Hudson, Henry (Vol. 13, p. 849); Baffin, William (Vol. 3, p. 192); La Salle (Vol. 16, p. 230), by C. C. Whinery, assistant editor of the Encyclopaedia Britannica; |Great Voyages| Champlain, Samuel de (Vol. 5, p. 830), by Dr. N. E. Dionne, author of Life of Samuel Champlain, etc.; Drake, Sir Francis (Vol. 8, p. 473); Buccaneers (Vol. 4, p. 709), by David Hannay, a stirring account of the piratical adventurers of different nationalities who united against Spain in the 17th century, and Cook, James (Vol. 7, p. 71), by Professor Beazley.
Modern Exploration
The story of geographical discovery and exploration is continued in such articles as America, General Historical Sketch (Vol. 1, p. 806), by David Hannay; Africa, History: Exploration and Survey since 1875 (Vol. 1, pp. 331 and 352), by F. R. Cana, author of South Africa from the Great Trek to the Union; Asia, Exploration (Vol. 2, p. 738), by Col. Sir Thomas H. Holdich, formerly superintendent of the Frontier Surveys of India; Australia, Discovery and Exploration (Vol. 2, p. 958); and Polar Regions (Vol. 21, p. 938), by Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, the Arctic explorer, and Dr. H. R. Mill, which gives a brilliant survey of all the attempts to conquer the frozen world. In connection with these articles should be read the full and interesting biographies of the great modern explorers such as Baker, Sir Samuel White (Vol. 3, p. 227); Burton, Sir Richard F. (Vol. 4, p. 864), by Dr. Stanley Lane-Poole; Livingstone, David (Vol. 16, p. 813), by John Scott Keltie, secretary of the Royal Geographical Society; Stanley, Sir Henry Morton (Vol. 25, p. 779), by F. R. Cana; Emin Pasha (Vol. 9, p. 340); Speke, John H. (Vol. 25, p. 633); Parry, Sir William Edward (Vol. 20, p. 865); Franklin, Sir John (Vol. 11, p. 30); Kane, Elisha Kent (Vol. 15, p. 650); Nordenskiöld, Nils Adolf Erik (Vol. 19, p. 740); Nansen, Fridtjof (Vol. 19, p. 162); Peary, Robert Edwin (Vol. 21, p. 30). See the chapter on Geography in this Guide.
A Complete History of the World
A strong taste for history is often found in children, and the new Britannica is, among other things, a complete history of the world, by the greatest historians of the present day. In respect to the treatment and arrangement of the historical section there are many things that make it especially adapted for young people’s reading. In the first place the great episodes of history, such as French Revolution, Renaissance, Reformation, Middle Ages, and Crusades, are discussed in separate articles. Also every battle, siege, campaign, or war of importance has its article, apart from its treatment in the histories of countries. The historical articles in the new Britannica will send those a little older to other articles dealing with government, and thus help them to cope intelligently with the social and civic problems of the age—in other words, enable them to become the best kind of citizens. The chapter in this Guide headed Questions of the Day covers this ground; and see the chapters on History.