Tom Swift and His Giant Telescope

by Victor Appleton

"It may be a new compound or it may be an unknown element. Anyway, in experimenting with it I found that heat and electricity both change the stuff. The former has an apparently permanent effect, while an electric current, as you saw, alters it only temporarily."

"Heat and Electricity Change It."

"Why didn't you make a big disk? Then you could have tested your theory right away," stated Ned Newton.

"For two good reasons," replied Tom, opening a drawer and taking out a small vial filled with yellow powder. "I wasn't sure it would improve a telescope for one thing, and this is the other." He handed the bottle to Ned. "This is all I have on hand of the new stuff."

"This Is All I Have."

"'X,'" murmured Ned, reading the label. "But this powder isn't green. And why the X?"

"When the stuff is melted and then cooled it changes color," explained Tom. "As for the X, if you remember your algebra you know that letter stands for the unknown quantity."

"Too bad you can't make a huge green disk."