Modern Prose and Heroes: Comprehensive Study Guide
THE DYING SUN BY SIR JAMES JEANS
Relative Size of Stars and Earth: Most stars are so large that hundreds of thousands of earths could be packed inside them with room to spare. Some immense stars could contain millions and millions of earths.
Total Number of Stars: The total number of stars in the universe is roughly equivalent to the total number of grains of sand on all the seashores in the world.
Stellar Loneliness: Millions of stars wander in space; most travel alone, while a few travel in groups. The universe is so vast that it is a very rare event for a star to come near another. In a scale model where stars are ships, the average ship is well over a million miles from its neighbor.
Origin of the Solar System: Approximately years ago, a rare event occurred where a wandering star came near the sun.
This star raised tides on the sun, creating an immense mountain of surface matter.
As the second star moved away, its powerful tidal pull caused this mountain to be torn to pieces, throwing small fragments into space.
These fragments became the planets, including Earth, and have circled the sun ever since.
Conditions for Life:
Initially, the planets were extremely hot, but they cooled over time. They now receive their warmth almost entirely from the sun’s radiation.
Life began as simple organisms capable of reproduction. It progressed into complex beings with feelings, ambitions, and religious hopes.
Temperature Belts: Life can only exist in a narrow belt surrounding each star where it is neither too hot nor too cold. Specifically, it requires a temperature where substances can exist in a liquid state.
Space Temperatures: Outside these belts, space is unimaginably cold—at most some four degrees above absolute zero (about degrees of frost on the Fahrenheit scale). Inside the stars, temperatures are thousands of degrees, melting all solids and boiling all liquids.
Rarity of Life: All habitable temperature belts in space combined constitute less than a thousand million millionth part of the whole of space. Furthermore, only about one star in is likely to have a planet at the correct distance for life.
USING THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD BY DARREL BARNARD & LON EDWARDS
Changes in Living Conditions: Scientific method has improved health, food production/preservation, home construction, communication, and transportation.
Better Control of Disease:
Historical Context: Two hundred years ago, seven out of eight babies died before reaching their first birthday. Childhood was plagued by smallpox, measles, whooping cough, scarlet fever, and diphtheria. Adults faced yellow fever, malaria, typhus, cholera, and typhoid.
Present Day: Babies are born in hospitals; vaccinations protect against many diseases. Expected life spans have increased from under thirty years to almost seventy years ( years added).
Better Sanitary Conditions:
A Century Ago: City streets were narrow, unpaved, and poorly drained. Garbage was thrown into the streets and fed upon by wandering animals. Outdoor toilets often drained into wells used for drinking water.
Modern Systems: Streets are paved and cleaned. Sewage is carried through sealed pipes to disposal plants.
Water Supply: Water used to be carried by the bucketful from distant wells. Today, cities have complex water systems. For example, Los Angeles brings water from the Colorado River via an aqueduct over a distance of kilometers, delivering a thousand million litres daily.
More Food and Better Food:
Past Limitations: People depended on home-grown food. Fresh vegetables were unavailable in winter. Thrifty housewives used canning, pickling, or drying. Meats were salted and dried.
Modern Advancements: Quick-freeze methods allow fresh fruits, meats, and vegetables to be available year-round. Dehydration (removing water from milk, eggs, etc.) and scientific grading/processing have removed the risks of poisoning.
Better Attitudes:
Superstitions: Beliefs in charms, astrology, and omens (like black cats, broken mirrors, or the number ) influenced lives through fear.
Scientific Mindset: People now look for natural reasons for events. Ideas must be supported by facts to be acceptable. Open-mindedness has replaced the blind acceptance of traditions.
WHY BOYS FAIL IN COLLEGE BY HERBERT E. HAWKES
Main Classes of Failure: Those who try and those who do not try.
Nervous Habits: Some boys have the ability but cannot concentrate. Example: the boy who spends his entire study time sharpening all his pencils instead of working. The cure must come from the boy himself cultivating poise to "smother the fidgets."
Mistaken Ambition: Parents often force sons into careers (physician, dentist, engineer) that run counter to the boy's ability and interest. The boy may want to be a theatrical manager or book-illustrator. Failure occurs because the work is distasteful.
The Bright Boy Syndrome: Boys who breezed through school without effort often fail in college because they never learned "real application." This is described as a tragedy of keenness going to waste.
Health Issues: Physical and mental health problems (tuberculosis, bad tonsils, sleeping sickness, poor digestion) are major causes of failure. Cooperation between the teaching staff and the college doctor is essential.
Financial Pressure: Some boys are forced to earn their entire way through college. This leads to "heartrending spectacles," such as boys working from PM to AM or undergoing blood transfusions to pay for books and food. This inevitably hurts their health and education.
Athletics and Literary Activities: While these have a place, some students get too swept off their feet by "side shows." However, if reasoned with, most can be brought back to the "main tent."
Lazy Bluffers: A few students drift in without interest. They usually need to retire to the "cold world" to find out the value of a degree through hard experience.
Role of the Dean: The dean must have diagnostic ability similar to a physician’s to save boys from failure through "foolishness, sickness and sin."
END OF TERM BY DAVID DAICHES
School Attitude: The author viewed school as a "daily grind" with fierce competition and heavy homework. The phrase "Friday Thank God" captured the relief of the weekend.
Morning Routine: The dreaded walk of the maid up the attic stairs to announce "Lionel, David, Sylvia – time!" felt like a "summons to damnation."
The Joy of Friday: Friday morning was "rose-coloured." Walking home on Friday afternoon felt like the "tread of an escaped prisoner." Sunday night was always filled with the threat of Monday morning.
Unexpected Respites: Occasional half-holidays for football matches, mid-term holidays (a Monday off), and skating holidays during hard frosts.
Summer Holidays: The two-month summer vacation was the period of "permanent felicity." Walking home in a red Wetson's blazer in the July sunshine, the author savored the happiness of the school year ending.
Unfulfilled Desires: The author longed for a tricycle, then a bicycle, which his parents could not afford. He finally bought his first bicycle at age with prize money from Edinburgh University. He also longed for sweets or ice cream from barrows, but his meager pocket money was always saved.
ON DESTROYING BOOKS BY J.C. SQUIRE
The Problem of Accumulation: Public-spirited citizens presented two million volumes to troops, but many used this as an excuse to get rid of "indigestibles" (guides to the Lake District, -year-old magazines). Non-bookish people often refuse to throw away anything that looks like a book.
The Difficulty of Destruction: Books "die hard." The author lived in a small flat in Chelsea and had so many books of inferior verse that he had to choose between the books or himself living there.
The Midnight Venture:
He lacked a kitchen range and could not burn the books.
He stuffed the books into a sack and went to the Chelsea Bridge at midnight to throw them into the river.
He felt intense fear of being caught by a policeman, fearing he would be suspected of carrying "swag" (stolen goods) or even a dead baby.
The Act: After losing his nerve several times, he called himself a coward and a "worm," and finally heaved the sack into the water. He later felt a touch of sadness for the "horrible bad books" lying in the ooze and mud at the river bottom.
THE MAN WHO WAS A HOSPITAL BY JEROME K. JEROME
Hypochondria: Upon reading a patent liver-pill circular, the author concluded his liver was out of order. At the British Museum, he read about various diseases and decided he had everything except "housemaid’s knee."
Self-Diagnosis: He believed he had typhoid fever (for months), St. Vitus's Dance, Bright’s disease (modified form), cholera (severe complications), and zymosis (since boyhood). He felt slighted that he didn't have housemaid's knee.
The Medical Miracle: He felt his pulse at beats per minute and couldn't feel his heart. He decided he was a "hospital in himself" and a medical acquisition for students who could simply walk around him to get their diplomas.
The Doctor's Visit: He went to his doctor friend. The doctor looked at him, hit him in the chest, and wrote a prescription.
The Prescription: The author took the note to a chemist, who told him he "didn't keep it." The prescription read:
beefsteak, every hours.
Ten-mile walk every morning.
Bed at sharp every night.
"And don't stuff your head with things you don't understand."
MY FINANCIAL CAREER BY STEPHEN LEACOCK
Bank Anxiety: The author becomes an "irresponsible idiot" the moment he enters a bank. Having his salary raised to dollars a month, he felt he must deposit it.
The Manager: Thinking he had to consult the manager for any account, he insisted on seeing him "alone." This led the manager to think the author was a detective from Pinkerton's or a son of Baron Rothschild with an "awful secret."
The Blunder: Upon learning the deposit was only dollars, the manager coldly handed him over to the accountant. In his rattled state, Leacock accidentally stepped into the safe while trying to leave the private room.
The Finale: He meant to withdraw six dollars for present use but wrote on the cheque instead. Too embarrassed to admit his mistake, he pretended he was withdrawing everything because of an insult. He left the bank to a roar of laughter and now keeps his money in his pocket and savings in a sock.
CHINA'S WAY TO PROGRESS BY GALEAZZO SANTINI
Historical Context: After years of Western disregard (the "bamboo curtain"), China emerged as a global focus. Diplomatic recognizing of the People's Republic of China is now a priority for many countries.
Social Experiment: When the Communists took over in , the economy was "Early Iron Age." Since then, China has focused on mass organization, discipline, and communal purpose.
The Chinese Model:
Cities: Absence of cars, advertising, neon signs, alcohol, and sex.
Communes: Agriculture is decentralized. Workers are kept in the fields (not fleeing to cities) and incorporated into local small industries.
Self-Reliance: Based on Mao's maxim "Rely on your own forces." Indigenous equipment is preferred over foreign machines because it is cheaper and stimulates revolutionary spirit.
Standard of Living: Calculated at – yuan a month (– dollars). Medical care is free for workers (families pay ). Pensions are granted at age (women at or ).
Women in China: Mao says "women hold up half the sky." They enjoy an eight-hour workday, days of paid maternity leave, and free healthcare.
The Power of Numbers: With a population of million, even a single dollar or one day of work from everyone yields massive resources for the state.
HUNGER AND POPULATION EXPLOSION BY ANNA MCKENZIE
Definition of Hunger: It is not missing one meal but never having enough to eat, always wondering if there will be a next meal.
History of Famine:
Egypt: A Pharaoh recorded that the Nile failed to flood for seven years, leading to empty food bins.
Europe: Between the birth of Christ and , there was a major famine in Europe every five years.
Asia: China had major famines in one century ( million died in one event). The Bengal famine (–) killed million. In , million died in Bombay.
Population Explosion:
At the birth of Christ, the world population was – million.
It reached million by and is now over million (doubling every years).
Rate of Growth: The difference between birth rate and death rate. In the U.K. (), the birth rate was and death rate , giving a growth rate of per .
Reduction in Death Rates: Modern medicine (DDT for malaria in Ceylon, penicillin for yaws) has drastically lowered mortality, while birth rates in under-developed countries remain high.
Economic Impact: Poor standards of living lead to poverty and political instability/war.
THE JEWEL OF THE WORLD BY PHILIP K. HITTI
Abd-al-Rahman I:
Following the overthrow of the Umayyads by the Abbasids in , he escaped from Damascus.
He swam across the Euphrates while his younger brother was killed. After wandering for five years through North Africa, he reached Spain.
He defeated the Abbasid governor and sent his salt-preserved head back to the Caliph in Baghdad.
The Glory of Cordova:
Established the Umayyad dynasty in Spain. Built the great Masjid of Cordova (La Mezquita) and a bridge over the Guadalquivir.
Cordova had half a million inhabitants, masajid, public baths, and paved streets with lighting (at a time when London and Paris were in darkness and mud).
Abd-al-Rahman III: Reigned for years (–). He proclaimed himself Caliph and built the royal palace, al-Zahra, with rooms using marble from Numidia and Carthage.
Intellectual Height: Al-Hakam owned a library of volumes. The University of Cordova was a world center of learning, preceded both Al-Azhar (Cairo) and Nizamiyah (Baghdad).
Industry: Spain introduced silk-worm raising (from China), tanning leather (Cordovan), and specialized in glassware, brasswork, and steel inlaying (Toledo).
FIRST YEAR AT HARROW BY SIR WINSTON S. CHURCHILL
Examinations: Churchill felt examiners always asked what he didn't know. He preferred history/poetry; they preferred Latin/mathematics.
Entrance Exam: He was unable to answer a single question on the Latin paper. He wrote his name and the question number '(I)', but then added only a blot and several smudges.
Mr. Welldon: The Headmaster showed discernment by passing Churchill despite the paper, looking "beneath the surface of things."
The Benefit of English: Because he was in the lowest division, he stayed there for three years and was taught English by Mr. Somervell. While others learned Latin and Greek, Churchill learned parsing and analysis using a color-coded system (black, red, blue, and green inks). He gained a deep understanding of the "essential structure of the ordinary British sentence," which served him better than the Latin learned by his peers.
HITCHHIKING ACROSS THE SAHARA BY G. F. LAMB
Robert Christopher: A young American who desired to reach Timbuktu. His journey began in .
Challenges of the Desert:
Extreme Heat: Sand temperatures reached . Water in a flask became hot enough for tea in two hours.
Ghardaia: A city where children wore a "mask of flies."
Truck Travel: Across trackless desert using steel mesh strips to create runways for wheels.
Land of Thirst and Death: His water bag burst. He jumped barefoot onto sand like "hot coals." He and his party survived by killing a camel and drinking the greenish fluid from its stomach which Christopher had to boil and hold his nose to drink.
In Abbangarit: Christopher was left alone at a bordj (mud building). The well was meters deep with no rope. He used wire from a recording machine (battery-operated) and a metal teapot to fish for water that tasted of mud and sulfur.
Rescue: Professor Balanguernon and the Desert Patrol saved him after a two-day detour.
SIR ALEXANDER FLEMING BY PATRICK PRINGLE
Theory of Medicine: Pasteur discovered germs; Lister used carbolic acid as an antiseptic to kill them. Metchnikoff discovered leucocytes (white blood cells) that fight germs naturally.
Early Life: Born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in . He was a clerk for four years before receiving a legacy that allowed him to study medicine at St. Mary's Hospital.
Discovery of Lysozyme (): He found a substance in his own nasal secretions that destroyed microbes but was harmless to the body—this was the forerunner to penicillin.
Discovery of Penicillin (): A mould spore (Penicillium notatum) accidentally flew into a culture plate of staphylococci. He noticed the germs around the mould were disappearing.
Development: Fleming couldn't concentrate the drug. In , an Oxford team led by Howard Florey and E. B. Chain succeeded in concentrating it. It was used extensively during the Second World War.
Modesty: Fleming refused much of the credit, saying, "Nature makes penicillin. I just found it."
LOUIS PASTEUR BY MARGARET AVERY
Patriotism: Born in . He donated all his wealth ( francs) to the state in . After the Franco-Prussian war, he returned his honorary diploma to the University of Bonn in disgust.
Spontaneous Generation: He disproved the theory that life could arise from non-living matter by showing that substances did not decay if heated and kept from germs in the air.
Silkworm Industry: He saved the French silk industry by identifying the microscopic corpuscles causing disease and teaching peasants to select healthy eggs.
Vaccines: Created vaccines for Anthrax (for cattle) and Rabies (Hydrophobia). He famously cured Joseph Meister, a young boy bitten by a mad dog, through a series of days of attenuating spinal cord inoculations.
MUSTAFA KAMAL BY WILFRID F. CASTLE
Post-War Resistance: After WWI, the Sultan (Mehmet IV) was a puppet of the Allies. Mustafa Kamal went to Anatolia in to organize the resistance.
Abolition of the Sultanate: The Grand National Assembly at Ankara became the true government. Mehmet was exiled on a British motor ambulance in . The Republic was proclaimed in .
Reforms:
Script: Abolished Arabic script in favor of the Roman script.
Language: Purified the Turkish language of Arabic and Persian words.
Apparel: Abolished the Fez and made hats compulsory. Abolished the veil for women.
Women: Granted women full rights and higher education degrees.
Industry: Implemented a Five-Year Plan in , increasing factories from to .
A DIALOGUE BY USMAN NAVEED
Child Abuse: Defined as neglect, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. Prevention includes strong family support and education.
Rights: In Islam, children have rights to food, clothing, protection, and education. Article of the Pakistan Constitution guarantees child protection.
Global Issues: Malnutrition (leading to stunting), child trafficking, and the dangers of war zones (unexploded weapons seen as toys).
Technology: Social media can be antisocial and exposes children to paedophiles. Parents must use filters and supervision.
Juvenile Delinquency: Often caused by poverty, illiteracy, or broken homes. Juveniles should be treated with counseling/psychotherapy rather than being jailed with adult criminals.