1
Feathery Homes
Did
you know that there is a kind of bird that can sew? This bird, called the
tailorbird, uses its beak as a needle. It sews leaves together in the shape of
a cup. Then it lines the cup with straw and lays its eggs there.
Each species builds its own special kind of nest. The most common
materials used for nests are grasses, twigs, and feathers. A bird must weave
these materials into a nest. Imagine building a house without cement or nails
to hold it together!
A weaverbird builds a nest that looks like a basket. The nest is
shaped like a pear with a hole in the middle. The hole is the door of the nest.
The ovenbird makes a nest that is very solid. The nest is made of
mud. Like a sculptor, the ovenbird molds the mud into the shape of an oven and
then lets it dry in the sun. The sun bakes the mud, making it very hard.
Not all birds make their homes in branches. Some birds build their
nests on the ground, while others bury their eggs under the ground. And some
birds do not build nests at all. For example, a bird called the fairy tern lays
its eggs right on a branch. It tiptoes on the branch and balances its eggs very
carefully so they won't fall. So, when you look for nests and eggs in the
branches of trees and bushes, remember that some nests may be right under your
feet!
2 Outsmarting the Enemy
When a garden warbler sings from trees or bushes, no one
can see it. The colors of this songbird match the colors of the leaves. When an
animal blends in with its surroundings, its enemies can't see it either. This
kind of protection is called camouflage.
Birds must protect themselves from their
enemies. Sometimes this means having to fight. Sometimes it means fooling the
enemy. Sometimes it means being able to escape. Birds must also protect their
eggs and their young. Cats, rats, and foxes love eggs for breakfast. They prowl
around looking for eggs and young chicks to eat. How can birds defend
themselves against such enemies?
Each species has its own way of
defending itself. Birds called common terns fight with their beaks and claws.
In a swarm, they peck and scratch at anyone who comes too close to their nests.
Ostriches protect themselves by escaping. They can't fly, but they can run very
fast on their long, muscular legs. These birds can reach speeds of up to forty miles
per hour. How fast is that? Well, if the wind blows this hard, it can rip huge
branches from trees.
A bird called a
killdeer has a lot of courage. It cares very much for its young. It would
rather die than see its eggs eaten by a fox. If a fox wanders toward the nest,
the killdeer pretends to be hurt. Dragging one wing, it hops away from the nest
and draws the hungry fox after it.
3
Rain Forests
Tropical
rain forests grow near the equator, in the hottest parts of the world. Rain
forests are always wet. The moisture just never dries up.
The trees in a rain forest are very tall and have very few limbs.
The leaves are all at the top. They form a high ceiling. Very little sunlight
comes through the leaves. Inside a rain forest it is as dark and quiet as a
church.
There are very few low-growing plants on the rain forest floor.
Walking through a rain forest is like being at a circus's high trapeze show—the
most exciting things are happening high above the ground. Monkeys swing on
vines, with baby monkeys on their backs. Large snakes crawl from branch to
branch. Giant bats make squeaky noises.
The animals that stay near the ground are fascinating, too. The
gentle tapir, which looks like a small horse with a long nose, covers itself
with mud from head to foot. When the mud dries, it forms a kind of armor. It
protects the tapir from biting insects. Another ground animal is the anteater.
It has a long, sticky tongue that works like a fly trap. But the tongue is
really an ant trap. For breakfast, lunch, and dinner the anteater eats nothing
but ants, ants, and more ants.
4
Put a Lid on It
Sports
have always been ruled by the weather. Rain, sleet, snow, and cold called the
plays. Baseball fans often sat in the rain without cover, waiting for the sun
to come out and the game to begin. Football lovers sometimes took days to warm
up after sitting through a freezing cold Sunday game. For both sports fans and
players, the domed stadium was like something out of a dream. A huge plastic
bubble kept out rain and snow. There was heat to keep things comfortable year
round.
Domed stadiums have clearly changed the course of sports. Still,
they did have their problems at first. Most of these problems were discovered
and solved at the Houston Astrodome. This was the world's first stadium with a
lid. For the fans, it was great. But there were some problems for the players.
Baseball outfielders had the most difficult time. They had to learn to catch in
a field with a roof. At first this was almost as difficult as playing in the
dark. The panes of the roof were light colored, to let sunlight in. Sunlight
was needed to keep the grass on the field alive. But the light roof blended too
well with the white baseball. Fly balls seemed to drop out of nowhere. Even
skilled fielders were making errors. Finally, the decision was made to paint
the panes of the roof dark. The problem was solved. What about the grass? Well,
the real grass was dug up and replaced with artificial turf!
5
Two Unhappy Firsts
People
enjoy talking about “firsts.” They like to remember their first love or their
first car. But not all firsts are happy ones. Some involve accidents or other
sad events. Few people enjoy recalling the firsts that are bad.
One of history's bad but important firsts was the first car
accident. Autos were still young when it happened. The crash took place in New
York City. The year was 1896. The month was May. A man from Massachusetts was
visiting the city in his new car. At the time, bicycle riders were still trying
to get used to the new sets of wheels on the road.
In the accident, no one is sure who was at fault. In any case, the
bike and the car collided. The man on the bike was injured. The driver of the
car had to stay in jail and wait for the hospital report on the bicycle rider.
Luckily, the rider was not killed.
Three years later, another automobile first took place. The scene
was again New York City. A real estate broker named Henry Bliss stepped off a
streetcar. He was hit by a passing car. Once again, no one is sure just how it
happened or whose fault it was. The driver of the car was put in jail. Poor Mr.
Bliss became the first person to die in a car accident.
6
Sea Turtles
Did
you know that a turtle can lay twelve eggs in one minute? A large sea turtle
lays around 150 eggs at a time. She lays all these eggs in just a few minutes.
Large sea turtles live in the warm seas of the world. Except for
when they lay their eggs, they spend their whole lives in water. When it is
time to lay their eggs, the females swim to land. They usually return to the
place where they themselves were born. How they find their way back there is a
mystery.
When they reach shore, the big, heavy turtles crawl slowly up to
the high water mark. Using their flippers, they pull themselves along the sand.
They must struggle like mountain climbers to attain their goal. When they
finally reach dry sand, they rest before beginning the difficult task of laying
eggs.
The turtles lay the eggs in deep holes and cover them with warm
sand. The sand protects the eggs from harm. Then the females leave them. After
a few weeks, if you happened to be walking along the beach, you might see the
sand begin to shake in one spot. Then you would see tiny black balls coming out
of the sand. The tiny heads of baby turtles!
Baby turtles have a built-in sense of direction. As soon as they
are hatched, they head for the water. Once the babies swim out to sea, they
don't touch shore again until it is time for them to lay their own eggs.
7.
The Whale Clan
If
you're looking for a whale, you have a whole family of creatures to choose
from. The papa of the whale family is, of course, the whale itself. But there
are other members as well. Relatives, you might say.
Few people realize that dolphins are part of the whale clan. In
fact, many people do not realize that dolphins aren't fish. Fish breathe
through gills and lay eggs. The dolphin does neither. Dolphins, like all the
members of the whale clan, are mammals. They breathe air, and they have babies
like land mammals and feed them with milk. Dolphins are fascinating to watch.
They can leap high out of the water and perform turns in the air. These leaps
give the dolphin time to breathe.
Porpoises also belong to the whale family and are very much like
dolphins. The main difference between dolphins and porpoises is the size and
shape of the snout. The dolphin's nose is long and thin. The snout of the
porpoise is short and stubby. Both creatures are smart and friendly to humans.
Not all the members of the whale family are friendly. Perhaps the
difference in mood has to do with size. The giant whale is much grumpier than
the smaller dolphin or porpoise. An angry whale can be hard to ignore. Perhaps
this trait helped to inspire the story of Moby Dick, the Great White Whale who
sank a ship and caused the crew to drown.
8
Give Them a Hand
Right
is right. Right? Of course. But is left wrong? Well, the ancient Romans thought
so. As far as they were concerned, left-handed people were mistakes of nature.
Latin, the language of the Romans, had many words that expressed this view.
Some words we use today still have this meaning. The Latin word dexter means “right.” The English word dexterous comes from this word. It means
“handy.” So, right is handy. But the Latin word for "left" is sinistra.
The English word sinister was derived from this word. Sinister
means “evil.” Is it fair to call righties handy and lefties evil? Well, fair or
not, many languages have words that express similar beliefs. In Old English,
the word for left means “weak.” That isn't much of
an improvement over “evil.”
Not very long ago, southpaws were often forced to write with their
right hands. Doctors have since found that this can be very harmful. You should
use the hand you were born to use.
People who use their left hands are just starting to get better
treatment. But why all the name calling in the first place? One reason may be
that there are not as many left-handed people as there are right-handed people.
People who are different are often thought to be wrong. But attitudes do seem
to be changing. Fair-minded right-handed people are finally starting to give
lefties a hand.
9 Six-Legged Workers
Can
you imagine being able to lift fifty people at once and carry them? You'd have
to have superhuman strength. Well, you may be surprised to know that tiny ants
do have this kind of strength. An ant can lift a load fifty times heavier than
itself! Ants must often carry food to their homes from places that are far
away. To do this, they must be very strong.
Ants live in tunnels that twist and turn in many directions, like
the roots of a gnarled old tree. Thousands of ants can live in one nest. The
tunnels are divided into parts. Each part serves a special purpose.
The royal chamber is the place where the queen ant lays her eggs.
The queen spends her whole life laying eggs. She never leaves her chamber,
except to start a new nest. Worker ants must bring food to her.
The worker ants in an ant colony have many different jobs. Some
workers pull the eggs from the royal chamber into a room called the “nursery.”
There, they help larvae climb out of their shells. Larvae are the baby ants
when they first come out of the eggs. In the nursery, there are workers who
look after the larvae until they become full-grown ants. Some workers look for
food and store it in the granary, where seeds are kept. Others dump leftovers
in the rubbish room. Ants have their own complete, busy world hidden in tunnels
under our feet!
10
The Collapsing Road
The
young couple was very lucky. The back tires of their car stayed on the road.
Otherwise, the car—and its passengers—would have fallen right into a pit twenty
feet wide and thirty feet deep!
The man and woman were coming home from a party. They were
enjoying the landscape around Swansea, Wales. Suddenly, they found the front of
their car leaning into a huge hole. The car barely hung on to the edge of the
pit. It swayed back and forth like the arm of a balance.
In their precarious position, the couple knew that each movement
they made could be a matter of life and death. Slowly, slowly, they edged
toward the backseat. Then each opened a back door. And on the count of three,
they jumped out together. The accident was so scary that they ran along way
before they calmed down. But later they returned to see what happened. They
found that a big chunk of the road had sunk into the ground! At the bottom of
the pit lay their car—roof down and wheels up.
Was this mystery of the sunken road ever solved? It turned out
that an abandoned mine shaft lay under the road. It had collapsed and taken the
pavement with it. Layers of tunnels intersect beneath the city of Swansea. The
tunnels were built so many years ago that no one knows where they end or begin.
The tunnels are shaky, like those that ants build in the sand. It's even
possible that the entire city might collapse.
11 A Whale of a Story
There has been, in history, a man who
was swallowed by a whale and lived to tell the tale. The man's name was James
Bartley. The records to prove his unusual experience are in the British
Admiralty.
This story takes
place at a time when whales were hunted for meat and oil. Bartley was making
his first trip on the whaling ship Star of the East. Suddenly the lookout
sighted a huge sperm whale. The whalers knew it was a huge whale by the size of
the spray it blew into the air. They lowered their small boats. James Bartley
was in the first longboat. The men rowed until they were close to the whale. A
harpoon was thrown and found its mark. It sank into the whale's flesh. The
maddened beast crashed into the boat, snapping its tail at the men and the
wreckage of their boats. When the survivors were picked up, James Bartley was
missing.
Shortly before
sunset, the whale was finally captured. The sailors tied the whale's carcass to
the side of the ship. Because of the hot weather it was important that they cut
up the whale right away. Otherwise, the meat would begin to rot and the oil
would begin to spoil. When they got to the stomach, they felt something moving
about wildly. They thought it would be a big fish still alive inside. But when
they opened the stomach they found James Bartley. After this trip, Bartley
settled in Gloucester, England, and never returned to sea.
12
The Hermit
Most
people like living with other people. But some people just have to be by themselves.
Take Bozo Kucik, for example. For over eighty-four years Bozo lived all alone
on a desert island.
In 1888, when Bozo was only sixteen, his father left him on a
little island off the coast of Croatia. He kissed Bozo goodbye and said, “I
hope all goes well with you, my son.” Then the father got back in his boat and
sailed home without his son. How could he do such a thing, you ask? Well, Bozo
had asked him to.
Bozo's father was a poor peasant who couldn't afford to feed his
seven children. So he called his sons together and asked them to decide their
own futures. Bozo chose the life of a hermit.
During the years that Bozo lived alone, World Wars I and II were
fought. But Bozo never heard about them. In 1972, a crew of fishermen visited
his island. They tried to talk to Bozo. At first the old hermit ran away.
Finally, he let the men into his windowless stone hut.
The fishermen talked with Bozo for over two hours. They told him
all about the two world wars he had missed. When they asked his age, Bozo
guessed he was one hundred years old.
They asked if he wanted to go home. But Bozo said no. So the fisherman
wished Bozo well and left him alone again—just as his father had eighty-four years
before.
13
Forever Amber
Amber
is a substance that lasts and lasts. Scientists are very glad of this. Without
amber, we would not have many of the world's important insect remains. Amber is
a hard, yellowish-brown resin found in the earth. It is translucent, which
means you can see through it. It is known for its ability to preserve things.
Long ago, amber was not as hard as it is today. It was soft and
gummy. Insects that weren't careful about where they walked often got trapped
in it. The poor bugs that got caught in the sticky amber died. But they were
forever preserved. The golden resin worked like a wax mold. It shaped itself
around the insects. The resin hardened as the bodies of the dead insects slowly
fell into decay.
The last traces of the insects trapped in amber have been gone for
thousands of years. But the imprints of their bodies remained fixed in the
hardened resin. Although the bugs are gone from the earth, their imprints
remain for us to study. Many of these imprints are very fine and detailed.
Preserved imprints of creatures and plants that once lived are called fossils.
They help scientists learn more about life on earth in the past.
14
Jumbo
Jumbo
the elephant is one of the most famous animals that ever lived. He was the
biggest elephant and the proudest possession of the British Crown.
In April of 1882, Jumbo was shipped to a zoo in the United States
for a visit. He was an instant success. P. T. Barnum had heard of this giant
and the great crowds he attracted. Barnum decided that he would like to have
Jumbo in his circus. He thought of a way to get him.
Barnum knew that elephants in captivity have periodic fits of
violence. He waited for Jumbo to have such a fit. When it happened, he asked
the zoo to sell him the elephant. Jumbo was sold to Barnum, who paid on the
spot. Jumbo became the star of the circus. Barnum made a fortune on this star.
But one day tragedy struck Jumbo. It was after a show. The
elephant was being led back to his cage near the railroad tracks by his
trainers. Suddenly a bright light blinded them. A train whistled, and brakes
screeched as the engineer tried to stop. Dazzled by the light, Jumbo charged
right into it. There was a crash that chilled the hearts of those who were
there. The confused animal had run head-on into the train's engine. Jumbo died
of a broken neck.
15
Stunt People
They
are daredevils. They are in great physical shape. They are not movie stars, but
they make a lot of money. These brave folks—stunt people—are the hidden heroes
of many movies.
Stunt people were around long before films. Even Shakespeare
probably used them in fight scenes. To be good, a fight scene has to look real.
Punches must land on enemies' jaws. Sword fights must be fought with sharp
swords. Several actors are usually in a fight scene. Their moves must be set up
so that no one gets hurts. It is almost like planning a dance performance.
If a movie scene is dangerous, stunt people usually fill in for
the stars. You may think you see Tom Cruise running along the top of a train.
But it is probably his stunt double. Stunt people must resemble the stars they
stand in for. Their height and build should be about the same. But when
close-ups are needed, the film focuses on the star.
Some stunt people specialize in certain kinds of scenes. For
instance, a stunt woman named Jan Davis does all kinds of jumps. She has leapt
from planes and even off the top of a waterfall. Each jump required careful
planning and expert timing.
Yakima Canutt was a famous cowboy stunt man. Among other stunts,
he could jump from a second story window onto a horse's back. He invented the
famous trick of sliding under a moving stagecoach. (Maybe you've seen this
stunt in TV westerns.) Canutt also figured out a new way to make a punch look
real. He was the only stuntman ever to get an Oscar.
16
A Dragon That Flies
Although
it doesn't breathe fire, this dragon can fly. And what a beauty it is. By far
the scariest thing about the dragonfly is its name. This double-winged,
fast-flying insect is totally harmless. It has large, deep eyes that can detect
the smallest movements. Its body may be bright blue and red or a vivid green.
Dragonflies in flight look like dancing spots of color in the light of a
midsummer's day.
The dragonfly has a long and respectable history. It was one of
the first flying insects on the earth. To see this oldster of the insect world
in action, head for a pond. Dragonflies live near the water. In fact, they lay
their eggs right in the water
A dragonfly goes through several big changes before it becomes a
flying insect. From the egg, a tiny creature called a nymph is hatched. It
lives in the water, eating other small creatures that live in the pond. As the
nymph grows, it becomes too big for its skin. Then it sheds the skin that is
too small for it. Soon it grows a new one. This molting happens several
times, until the insect is full grown. At this time it crawls up the stem of a
water plant, out into the air. It squeezes its way out of its last skin as a
full-fledged dragonfly.
After going through all that work to grow up, the dragonfly only
lives for about a month. But for this short time it startles the hot summer air
with its bright beauty.
17 A Dangerous Weather Maker
Thunderstorms are dangerous because they
can give off lightning. Snowstorms can tie up traffic and strand people. But
tornadoes cause some of the worst weather of all.
Tornadoes are
very strong columns of twisting air. They come out of rain clouds and form
funnels. The funnels move along the ground, picking up anything in their path.
Tornado winds can be over 300 miles an hour. Property damage can be terrible.
Most of the
world's tornadoes are in the United States. The flat middle section of the
country—the Great Plains—is where many strike. Spring is the most common time
for tornadoes. But they hit in other seasons, too.
Tornadoes can be
rated by the damage that their winds do. The worst tornadoes have winds between
261 and 318 miles an hour. They can lift a sturdy wooden house off its
foundation. They can even carry cars through the air. Luckily, tornadoes this
strong don't happen very often.
The world's
worst tornado happened in March 1925. It went through three states—Missouri,
Illinois, and Indiana. It killed about seven hundred people and injured over
two thousand. In one small town, over two hundred people were killed. Many of
the dead were school children. If you hear that a tornado is coming, look for a
safe place right away.
If you are
indoors, go to a basement. If you are outside, lie flat on the ground. Treat
these storms with respect.
18
Oldest, Youngest, or in the Middle?
Were
you the first or last child in your family? Or were you a middle or only child?
Some people think it matters where you were born in your family. But there are
different ideas about what birth order means.
Some people say that oldest children are smart and strong-willed.
They are very likely to be successful. The reason for this is simple. Parents
have a lot of time for their first child. They give him or her a lot of
attention. So this child is very likely to do well. An only child will succeed
for the same reason.
What happens to the other children in a family? Middle children
don't get so much attention. So they don't feel that important. If a family has
many children, the middle ones sometimes get lost in the crowd. The youngest
child, though, often gets special treatment. He or she is the “baby.” Often
this child grows up to be funny and charming.
Do you believe these ideas about birth order? A recent study saw
things quite differently. This study found that first children believed in
family rules. They didn't take many chances in their lives. They usually
followed orders. Rules didn't mean so much to later children in a family. They
went out and followed their own ideas. They took chances. And they often did
better in life.
Which theory about birth order do you believe? Look at your own
family or your friends' families. Decide which idea fits what you see.
19 A Very Old Riddle
The people of old Greece and Egypt believed in mythology.
The stories in myths were mostly about strange creatures. Some of these
creatures were part human and part animal. One, the Sphinx, had the head of a
woman and the body of a lion. The Sphinx lived high on a mountain peak over
which a road passed.
People who traveled that road were never
heard from again. Whenever travelers reached the peak of the mountain, the
Sphinx would block the road and speak this riddle: "What goes on four feet
in the morning, on two feet at noon, and on three feet in the evening?” No
traveler in a thousand years had guessed the answer. And the Sphinx had eaten
them all.
But one day a Greek traveler named
Oedipus traveled that way. When Oedipus came to the mountain pass, the Sphinx
leaped out. With a catlike grin, it asked its terrible riddle. Oedipus, wise
with age, knew the answer immediately, but he teased the Sphinx by frowning and
shaking his head. These strange actions made the Sphinx tense and upset. Then
suddenly Oedipus shot forth the answer. The Sphinx was so upset that it jumped
off the mountain to its death.
The answer
Oedipus gave was simple: a person. Can you guess why this was right? In a
person's morning, or childhood, he or she crawls on all fours. At noon, as an
adult, a person walks on two legs. In the evening, old age, a person uses a
third foot—a cane.
20
Protect Your Hearing
Is
your roommate's stereo playing too loud: Is the neighbor's leaf blower driving
you crazy? The world seems to be getting noisier all the time. And you need to
be concerned about it. All those loud sounds may actually damage your ears.
Noise can affect your hearing in two ways. A very loud noise very
close to the ear can injure it right away. An example might be the sound from a
high-powered rifle. Aloud blast like this can leave scars on your inner ear
tissues. You will hear less well as a result. (That is why people at shooting
ranges wear coverings to protect their ears.)
Much hearing damage comes more slowly. It occurs over a period of
time. You have probably heard of people in rock bands who lose their hearing.
The constant loud noise gradually damages their ears. But this can happen to
other people as well. Loud noise comes from fireworks, from car horns in
traffic, even from vacuum cleaners. Too much of any of these can affect your
hearing.
How can people protect their ears? One way is to use earplugs. Is
the concert so loud that you can't hear what your friend is saying? Put the
plugs in. And sometimes give your ears a rest. Go to that noisy basketball game
tonight. But don't run your lawn mower tomorrow morning.
As people grow older, their hearing skills gradually decrease.
This is a fairly natural phenomenon. But hearing loss by age thirty is not
natural. You can avoid it if you are careful.
21. The Wizard of Wall Street
At
the age of eighty, Hetty Green lived like a pauper in an unheated
apartment. To save the cost of heating her food, she ate only cold eggs and
onions. In order to save more money, Hetty wore newspapers instead of
underwear. She had only the bottoms of her dresses cleaned. A very poor person,
you say? No, Hetty was one of America's richest women!
Hetty Green was born in 1835 in a rich section of Bellow Falls,
Vermont. When her father died, she was left a large fortune. She took all of
her money and invested it in the stock market. Her stocks did so well that she
became known as “the wizard of Wall Street.”
But though she was very rich, Hetty Green was extremely cheap. For
instance, when her son, Edward, broke his leg, she refused to call for a
doctor. She felt it would cost too much. So she carried her son to a charity
hospital. Still, young Edward's leg got worse. Finally, the leg had to be
removed to save the boy's life. But Hetty still didn't want to pay the hospital
fee. Instead, in order to save more money, she had her son's operation done on
the kitchen table in her rooming house.
When Hetty died in 1916, she was worth over $120 million. Yet this
tightfisted woman had lived as though she barely had a cent.
22
Surviving in Very Cold Climates
Imagine going to sleep in October and
waking up in May! Animals such as marmots and ground squirrels stay warm by
sleeping all winter. All this time, they do not wake up once. This special kind
of sleep is called hibernation. During this sleep, the heart slows down, and
the animal breathes more slowly. It doesn't move around, so it uses less
energy.
Animals like the
marmot and the ground squirrel inhabit the coldest parts of the world.
They need special talents to survive in these frigid places. Their furry coats
keep them snug when the temperature falls below zero. It often gets this cold
in the Arctic, a land that is just below the North Pole.
Before the long
winter, some animals eat and eat. After a while, they grow very fat. When
winter comes, they live on the fat saved up in their bodies. The fat layers
help keep them warm.
Arctic animals
also have other ways to beat the cold. Rabbits in the Arctic, for example, have
very small ears. Small ears keep heat in, while big ears let it out. Small
things usually keep heat in. Have you ever slept in a room that is very small
and noticed how hot it can get?
It rarely gets
warm in the Arctic. But although summer seasons there are very short, the sun
shines brightly. Plants seem to spring up before your eyes! Animals such as
caribou look forward all year to summer, when they can eat fresh grass again.
Every minute of sunshine is important to their lives.
23
Let's Shake on It
What
could be simpler than shaking fruit from a tree? Well, the job is a lot tougher
than you might think. There is definitely a right way and a wrong way to shake
a fruit tree. And a person who is a good apple tree shaker may not be a good
cherry tree shaker. Different fruits take different shakes.
As a rule, a slow, hard shake is best. This makes the fruit fall much faster than a light, quick jiggle. Most fruits have a set number of shakes per minute that will do the best job of getting them out of the tree and onto the ground. To shake down plums, try shaking the tree four hundred times per minute, moving the tree two inches at each shake. Experts say you'll get three times more fruit from the tree than you will if you shake eleven hundred times per minute at one inch per shake. Cherries, because they are smaller, need more jarring. A good rate of shaking seems to be about twelve hundred shakes per minute. Apples, like plums, need about four hundred shakes.
Of course, some folks may choose to ignore all these expert directions for jiggling fruit. Can you actually imagine shaking a tree so many times? Besides, keeping track of all the numbers can be enough to drive some people up a tree.
As a rule, a slow, hard shake is best. This makes the fruit fall much faster than a light, quick jiggle. Most fruits have a set number of shakes per minute that will do the best job of getting them out of the tree and onto the ground. To shake down plums, try shaking the tree four hundred times per minute, moving the tree two inches at each shake. Experts say you'll get three times more fruit from the tree than you will if you shake eleven hundred times per minute at one inch per shake. Cherries, because they are smaller, need more jarring. A good rate of shaking seems to be about twelve hundred shakes per minute. Apples, like plums, need about four hundred shakes.
Of course, some folks may choose to ignore all these expert directions for jiggling fruit. Can you actually imagine shaking a tree so many times? Besides, keeping track of all the numbers can be enough to drive some people up a tree.
24 Slow but Sure
Nowadays
the Indianapolis 500, one of the world's most famous car races, takes about
three-and-a-half hours to run. If the Indy 500 had been held in 1895, it would
have taken almost three days. The horseless carriage had just been invented a
short time before. Top speeds back then were much lower than they are today.
For most people, just seeing a car move without a horse pulling it was
thrilling enough. The driver's main concern was making sure the car didn't
break down.
One of the first car races was held in Chicago on Thanksgiving Day
in 1895. Folks crowded the streets to gawk at the new machines. The
route of the race went through the heart of town. The cars were to go out to a
nearby suburb and back. The race covered a distance of about fifty-four miles.
That's less than one-tenth the distance at Indy. The drivers cranked up their
engines and prayed that they wouldn't conk out. Then they were off. The race
proved too much for some of the cars. Perhaps they couldn't withstand the high
speeds. The winner of the contest was J. Frank Duryea. He got the checkered
flag a bit more than seven hours after he started. He had covered the grueling
distance at an average speed of 7.5 miles per hour. That is slower than a
modern marathoner can go on foot. Even so, as Duryea finished, the crowd went
wild.
25
Scallops and Clams
Scallops
and clams are both mollusks—shelled sea creatures with soft bodies. Yet they
have more differences than similarities. Scallops and clams both feed by pulling
water through their shells and straining out tiny plants and animals as their
food. Both shellfish are popular prey for many other sea creatures. But when it
comes to searching for safety, they have very different ways.
The scallop lies on the floor of the ocean in shallow to fairly
deep water. Its curved shell raises it just above the sand or gravel on the
bottom. It looks almost helpless lying there. But don't let it fool you. There
is a ring of tiny eyes peering out from the scallop's shell. At the first sign
of an enemy, the scallop takes off, swimming by jetting spurts of water
out behind it. It's a very fast swimmer.
Any clam that dared to lie in full view on the ocean floor would
quickly be eaten. Clams make a tasty meal for starfish, crabs, or carnivorous
snails. They move very slowly and cannot swim at all. They find safety by
burrowing deep into the mud or sand. Their long necks stretch like periscopes,
up to the top of the sand. Just the tip of the neck pokes out to get food for
the clam. If anything comes near, the neck can quickly be pulled back within
the shell. The clam stays safe below the surface, two or three feet down.
Watch
out for practical jokers. They'll do almost anything for a laugh. One such
prankster was Moe Drabowsky. He was a baseball relief pitcher. Relief pitchers
are standby players who replace the starting pitcher in a game if he is
pitching badly. If the starting pitcher is throwing well, relief pitchers have
nothing to do. They just sit around in the bullpen and hope the manager calls
them to play.
Waiting around in the bullpen gave
Moe lots of time to think up jokes. But his best joke was played after he
retired from baseball. Moe was sitting at home watching his team play on
television. It would have been a boring game for him had he still been on the
team. The starting pitcher was doing great. He hadn't given up a single run.
The relief pitchers wouldn't be likely to play in this game. The last thing
they'd expect would be a call from the manager. The thought gave Moe a mischievous idea. He still remembered the bullpen phone
number. Moe dialed it from his living room. A startled relief pitcher answered.
Using a voice that sounded like the manager's, Moe growled, “Warm up and get
ready to play.” The star pitcher gape at the man in the bullpen who was getting
ready to pitch. Everyone stared at the manager in disbelief. The poor manager
could only scratch his head. A thousand miles away, Moe Drabowsky sat in his
living room watching the event on TV and laughing.
27
The Mysterious Iceman
Put
yourself in these tourists’ position. You are walking an icy mountain path in
the Alps in Europe. Suddenly you spot a body on the ground, face
downward and stuck to the ice. You think someone may have been murdered or in a
fatal accident. So you rush back and call the police. The police, however,
quickly realize that this body is different from others they've found on the
mountain. For one thing, it is mostly undamaged. For another, its skin is dried out, like a mummy's. And with it is a knife with a
small stone blade.
The body turned out to be much
older than the tourists could have guessed. When specialists had a chance to
examine it, they discovered it had been there for about five thousand years!
How could a body stay preserved for
all this time? Two things probably helped. First, the place where the man died
was somewhat sheltered, so animals couldn't get
at it. Then he was quickly covered by falling snow. Wind blowing through the
snow probably “freeze-dried” his body, removing all moisture from it.
Objects found with the body told
something about the Iceman's life. He wore a well-made fur jacket and pants. He
clearly had been hunting, for he carried arrows, and animal bones were nearby.
He also had a braided grass mat for sitting or sleeping on. Perhaps he was
exhausted when he lay down for the last time.
The body was found in 1991, when
some of the ice on the mountain melted. Searching for the cause of the Iceman's
death, scientists put the body back into cold conditions—and hoped.
28
They'll Eat Anything
You
know that pearls grow inside oysters, but would you ever think to look for
diamonds inside an ostrich? Well, a hunter once shot an ostrich and discovered,
to his great surprise, that the big bird had swallowed a bunch of diamonds. How
could such a strange thing happen?
Like many other birds, the ostrich
swallows small stones that stay inside its “gizzard.” The gizzard is a bird's
second stomach. It is where the food is ground up. The small stones help to
grind up the food so it can be digested. The small stones do the chewing,
because birds don't have teeth. In the case of the ostrich with the diamonds,
the bird simply had expensive taste in rocks. He used the diamonds to help
digest his dinner.
Diamonds and stones aren't all that
an ostrich will swallow. If there are no stones around, it will eat just about
anything. Sadly for ostriches in zoos, this can be a fatal habit. The
tendency to swallow anything it sees has caused the death of many an ostrich.
Cruel or careless people often throw things into the bird's living space. They
throw keys, coins, and even large objects such as horseshoes. The ostrich
swallows them without hesitation. Coins can be the worst. Inside the ostrich
they wear down to a razor-sharp edge. They will cut open the bird's gizzard
from the inside. When one young zoo ostrich died, 484 coins weighing more than
eight pounds were found in its gizzard.
29
No Laughing Matter
Never
laugh at a snow-covered mountain! Laughter and yelling during the avalanche
season can trigger a deadly pile of snow. Huge snow slides are most common in
mountains where there are steep slopes that are well buried in snow and ice.
The snow builds up slowly and lands very softly. This can create a very touchy,
unstable situation. Tons of snow may be held up by only the friction between
snowflakes. The deep snow is like a house of cards. The slightest movement can
cause it to tumble. As soon as something slips, a great mass of snow will come
crashing down the mountainside.
Slides may be started by sound
vibrations. They may also be started by the weight of wet, melting snow. Once
an avalanche has been triggered, the cause no longer matters. Moving down a
steep slope, it picks up great speed and added snow. Some avalanches travel as
fast as 200 miles per hour. The force of an avalanche will mow down anything in
its path. Whole houses have been swallowed up by these fast-paced piles of
snow.
The wind that is caused by an
avalanche is almost as destructive as the snow itself. Winds from an avalanche
have been known to travel as fast as those of a tornado. So, when approaching a
thickly snow-covered mountain, speak softly!
30
Abe's Favorite Story
If
he hadn't turned to politics, Abe Lincoln might have done well as a comic. It
has been said that he was always ready join in a laugh at his own expense.
There is one particular story that he always told with great glee.
In his early days as a lawyer,
Lincoln was on the “circuit.” This meant going from town to town to hear and
judge legal cases. During one of these many trips, he was sitting in a train
when a strange man came up to him. The stranger looked at the tall, gawky
lawyer quite sternly and explained that he had something he believed belonged
to Lincoln. Lincoln was a bit confused. He had never seen the man before. He
didn't see how a total stranger could have something of his. Lincoln asked him
how this could be. The stranger pulled out a gleaming penknife and began to
explain. Many years before, he had been given the pocketknife. He had been told
to keep it until he was able to find a man uglier than himself.
Lincoln's eyes always sparkled when
he reached this part of the story. He was never considered a handsome man. The
stranger had decided that Lincoln was ugly enough to deserve the knife. The
story always brought smiles to the faces of the audience that heard it. The
tale itself was funny. But even more delightful was the fact that a man as
great as Lincoln could still laugh at himself.
The first matches were made by a German
experimenter. Like others of his time, he was trying to make gold. Instead, he
came up with phosphorous. This chemical is so sensitive that it bursts into
flame when exposed to the air. The first match was made in 1680. In those days,
few people could afford even an ounce of phosphorous. It was so expensive that
lighting a match was like burning money. The first matches were toys for the
rich. They were not matches as we know them. They were small bottles containing
pieces of paper dipped in phosphorous. When exposed to the air, they caught
fire.
It was not
until 1827, in England, that the type of match we are familiar with was made.
It used phosphorous too, but in smaller amounts. It was lighted by friction.
Everyone could afford these matches. They replaced flint and steel, which for
ages had been the only tools for starting fires. But these matches proved to be
a curse as well as a blessing. Phosphorous is a deadly
poison. The people who made matches often died from a disease caused by the
poison. Babies died from swallowing match heads. Some people used them to
commit suicide.
At last, in
1911, William Fairburn devised a nontoxic type of phosphorous. He proved himself
an unselfish man by giving the formula to all the matchmakers, rather than
keeping it for his own profit.
32 The Great
Invasion
In 1944 an event occurred that changed the
course of history. It was the invasion of France by the Allied forces. This invasion
was the beginning of the end of World War II.
By 1944 most
of Western Europe was controlled by German armies. To free the people, the
Allies carefully planned their attack. British, Canadian, and American troops
would set out from England and sail across the English Channel. They would land
on the mainland of Europe and take back the land the Germans had grabbed.
The Germans
knew the invasion was coming. They did not know where or when. The Allies tried
to fool their enemy, and they succeeded. The Germans thought the invasion would
come through northern France or through Belgium. The Allies decided to land
further south, along France's Normandy coast. The Germans had fortified this
region with guns, land mines, and barbed wire fences. But their main troops
weren't there.
Invasion Day
was June 6, 1944. Some 175,000 men were carried one hundred miles across the
water. With them came tanks, trucks, and fighter planes providing bombing
support. The goal in the first few days was to gain control of five beaches.
From there troops could move inland.
Some of the
worst fighting was at Omaha Beach. Just beyond the beach, Allied soldiers had
to climb steep cliffs to make sure German gunnery was not there. At Omaha, over
two thousand men died or were injured.
But the
invasion was successful. The Allies established a beachhead by the end of the
first day. Within a year, the Germans would be defeated.
33 The Ship with Four Legs
There is just one four-legged animal that can
walk two hundred miles without stopping once to rest. It would take a person
two days and two nights to walk this far, and only one man has ever done it
without stopping. What amazing animal has such endurance? The camel! The camel
is well known for something else, too. It can cross an entire desert without a
single drink of water. Its body is built in a special way to help it store
water and food.
A person has
just one stomach, but a camel has quite a few. Within each stomach are layers
and layers of cells. These cells are like tiny water balloons, storing liquids
until the camel needs them. When the camel drinks, the cells grow larger and
larger. For a whole week, they can keep the animal's thirst away by sending
water to all parts of its body.
Did you ever
wonder why the camel has a hump? The hump is a storage place for fat. Because
it has this storage area, the camel does not need to eat very often. When the
animal needs energy, the layers of fat serve as fuel to keep it going on the
long, hot days in the burning sun.
The camel
has one other gift that makes it well suited to arid regions. This gift is its
amazing nose. A camel can smell a water hole from miles away!
When a camel
moves, it sways from side to side like a ship on a wavy ocean. Because of this
swaying motion, the camel has been called the "Ship of the Desert."
34 The Octopus Plant
Unless you have visited the southern United
States, you probably have never heard of kudzu. Kudzu, as any farmer in the
South will sadly tell you, is a super-powered weed. It is a strong climbing
vine. Once it gets started, kudzu is almost impossible to stop. It climbs to
the tops of the tallest trees. It can cover large buildings. Whole barns and
farmhouses have been known to disappear from view. It has even been said to
engulf small, slow-moving children, but that is probably an exaggeration.
Still, wherever it grows, its thick, twisting vines are extremely hard to
remove.
Kudzu was
once thought to be a helpful plant. Originally found in Asia, it was brought to
America to help fight erosion. It was planted where its tough roots, which grow
up to five feet long, could help hold back the soil. But the plant soon spread
to places where it wasn't wanted. Farmers now have to fight to keep it from
eating up all the nutrients in the soil and killing other plants. In a way, it
works as a sign of unemployment in the South; where there is no one to work the
fields, kudzu soon takes over.
The northern
United States faces no threat from kudzu. Harsh winters kill off its vines. The
plant loves the warmth of the South. But the South surely doesn't love it. If
someone could invent some use for kudzu and take it off southern farmers'
lands, his or her fortune would be assured.
35 Monkey Do
Would you send a monkey to do your shopping for
you? Sounds pretty strange, doesn't it? But monkeys can be trained to do some
amazing things. Most people are aware that monkeys are one of nature's
brainiest beasts. Scientists have been studying the link between monkeys
and people for a long time. They have designed experiments that test the
monkey's ability to perform simple human tasks.
In one test,
a psychologist put two monkeys in cages beside each other. Each cage contained
a vending machine. One cage had a machine that gave out water. The other had
one that gave out food. Instead of real coins, each monkey was given a bag of
black and white tokens. The black tokens worked only in the food machine. The
white tokens worked in the machine with the water. In time, both animals were
able to figure out which coin worked in which machine.
Then the
test was made harder. The coins were taken away. The monkey with the water
machine was not allowed to have any water for twenty-four hours. The food
monkey was deprived of food. The next day, the coins were returned to the
monkeys. This time, though, the monkey with the food machine was given water
machine tokens, and the monkey with the water machine was given the tokens that
worked the food machine. What did the two hungry monkeys do? These smart
creatures simply reached through the bars of their cages and traded tokens.
36 Courage
and Skill
John Paul
Jones was one of the founders of the United States Navy. During the American
Revolution, the colonies were desperate. They needed men to lead their small
ships against the British fleet. Jones was more than willing to fight. John
Paul Jones had once been a captain of a British merchant ship. In 1773, his
crew mutinied. One member of the crew tried to gain control of the ship. Jones
shot the man to death. The mutiny took place near the port of Tobago, an island
in the Caribbean. Authorities there decided to have a trial. This meant certain
death for John Paul Jones, since the whole crew would testify against him. One
night during a thunderstorm, he escaped from the jail. He fled to the United
States and lived with a family named Jones. His real name was John Paul. He
added the name of Jones to his, in honor of the family. He outwitted the
British ships that were sent to hunt him down. And he did this with little more
than his own courage and the skill of his crew. When the American Revolution
ended he went to serve in the Russian navy. There he fought the Turks and
achieved one of the few major naval victories in the history of Russia. He died
in Paris at the age of forty-five. John Paul Jones is considered both an
American and Russian hero, but the English considered him a fugitive.
37 No Chance to Dream
The thought
of not sleeping for twenty-four hours or more is not a pleasant one for most
people. The amount of sleep that each person needs varies. In general, each of
us needs about eight hours of sleep each day to keep our bodies healthy and
happy. Some people, however, can get by with just a few hours of sleep at
night. It doesn't matter when or how much a person sleeps. But everyone needs
some rest to stay alive. Few doctors would have thought that there might be an
exception to this. Sleep is, after all, a very basic need. But a man named Al
Herpin turned out to be a real exception, for supposedly he never slept! Al
Herpin was ninety years old when doctors came to his home in New Jersey. They
hoped to negate the claims that he never slept. But they were surprised. Though
they watched him every hour of the day, they never saw Herpin sleeping. He did
not even own a bed. He never needed one. The closest that Herpin came to
resting was to sit in a rocking chair and read a half dozen newspapers. His
doctors were baffled by this strange case of permanent insomnia. Herpin offered
the only clue to his condition. He remembered some talk about his mother having
been injured several days before he had been born. Herpin died at the age of
ninety-four, never-it seems-having slept a wink.
38. The
World's Oldest Sport
Most of us
have heard of thoroughbred horses. But what does "thoroughbred" mean?
It means a horse of a pure breed. In other words, a thoroughbred is a type of
horse that has not been mixed with any other type of horse through breeding.
Thoroughbred horses are the world's fastest racers. Long ago, three Arabian
stallions were brought to England by King Charles II. They were the ancestors
of all thoroughbreds known today. They were called Byerley Turk, Godolphin
Barb, and Darley Arabian.
Horse racing
is one of the oldest sports in the world. Rulers of all times have enjoyed
breeding their own horses. In the Middle Ages, kings liked to watch their
knights on horseback compete in tournaments. Because of this, horse racing is
often called "the sport of kings."
There are many
different kinds of horse races. Flat races are races that take place on grass
or dirt tracks. They are called "flat" because the horse is not made
to jump over any obstacles.
In another
kind of race, called the steeplechase, a horse must jump at least eighteen
fences. Steeplechasing gets its name from races once held in Ireland. In these
events, the course was set between the church steeples of one village and the
next. The most famous steeplechase in modern times is the Grand National, held
in England.
39 Glass on the Beach
If you have
gone to the same seashore for several years, you may have noticed that the
beach gets smaller every year. The wind and the waves carry the beach out to
sea, bit by bit. Most shore towns try to fight the beach changes caused by
ocean currents and the tides. Some dig sand out of the backwater bays and dump
it on the beachfront. Others build wooden piers and jetties made to keep
currents away from the beach. A type of artificial sand that has been developed
might be able to slow down beach erosion. Strangely, this new kind of sand is
made of ground glass! You might think that walking barefoot on ground glass
would be painful. But it's not. The reason is very simple. Sand and glass are
made of the same kind of material, called silicate. When glass is ground very
finely, you get a sandlike substance that is harder than real sand. The size of
the pieces can be controlled. Larger pieces wouldn't be as easily affected by
the wind and waves. So a beach covered with artificial sand would last longer
than a beach with real sand. A wonderful thing about artificial sand is that it
can be made from waste glass. But making artificial sand costs three times as
much as using conventional methods of beach protection. So it is not likely that
sand made of glass will be used in the
near future.
40 The Monstrous Flower
Have you
ever heard of a flower whose seeds are carried and spread by elephants? The
rafflesia, a rare blossom, is very unusual. Found in the rain forests of
Sumatra, the rafflesia is the world's largest flower, measuring three feet in
diameter.
This giant
flower is a parasite-it needs another plant to live on. It lacks the structures
needed to survive alone. The rafflesia has no stem or leaves. It is all flower.
It attaches itself to the roots of other plants and sucks their juices. The
flower's favorite home is the root of the cissus vine, which grows above
ground.
The
rafflesia seems to burst right out of the forest floor. Its blossom weighs fifteen
pounds! It has thick, spotted petals that give off a foul smell. The center, or
nectary, is about the size of a household bucket. After a rain, it may hold up
to twelve pints of water.
After the
rafflesia dies, it becomes a pool of thick liquid in which seeds float.
Elephants wandering through the forest step into the mushy pool, and the seeds
glue themselves to their feet. As the animals stomp though the forest, their
sticky feet pick up twigs and leaves. The elephants try to rid themselves of
the sticky mess, in the same way people try to get bubblegum off their shoes.
The elephants rub their feet against the roots of the cissus vine. In no time,
seeds left on the vine grow into more monstrous flowers!
41 Famous Horses of the Past
Did you
think only kings and queens lived in marble houses? Well, Caligula, a Roman
Emperor, kept his horse, Incitatus, in a marble stable! The horse's stall was
made of ivory. The horse wore a golden collar inlaid with jewels. His purple
blanket was a sign of royalty. It was rumored that Caligula had even made his
horse consul! A consul was a ruler with much power.
Horses have
helped to shape history. Long ago, winning or losing a battle often depended on
how fast a horse could run. Horses were crucial in war. General Robert E. Lee
never parted with his horse, Traveller. During the American Civil War, General
Lee led the Confederate Army. Traveller braved many battles with Lee and was
never hurt.
The most
famous warhorse of all time was made of wood. It actually helped defeat an
entire army. About 3,500 years ago, a fierce battle was going on between the
Trojans and the ancient Greeks in a place called Asia Minor. The Greeks tried
to think of a way to outsmart their enemies. Finally they built a huge wooden
horse, taller than two houses, and left it outside the gates of the city of
Troy. Since they didn't know where it came from, the Trojans thought the horse
had magical powers. Carefully, they pulled it through the gates. That night, a
surprising thing happened. The sides of the wooden horse opened and a band of
Greek soldiers climbed out. They opened the gates of Troy and let in the Greek
army. The Greeks soon captured the city of Troy.
42 A Safe Place to Sleep
Need some
sleep? Maybe you should try curling up in a cactus. This prickly plant can
provide sound slumber-at least for a desert centipede. It has worked as a
bedroom for this creature for years. The centipede is a long bug with one
hundred legs. Although pretty scary to look at itself, the bug is afraid of the
tarantula, a large dark spider with eight big hairy legs. Each night before the
centipede goes to sleep, it builds a special burglar alarm made of cactus. It
surrounds itself with these sharp plants. The smart bug knows that the
tarantula will never crawl over cactus. That would be like hugging a porcupine.
So the centipede sleeps safely in its cactus Corral. It can be sure that no
enemy will get in. Shut out by this prickly prison, the hungry tarantula lurks
outside the centipede's bedroom for hours. First it circles the wall, then it
peers over and circles again. Finally it decides that there is nothing it can
do. It leaves the centipede to sleep and goes off to look for a creature that
won't protect itself as well. The next day the centipede wakes up from a good
night's sleep, figuring the tarantula has surely given up by now. Still, the
centipede is cautious. It takes a long and very careful look around. Only when
it's sure that the coast is clear does the centipede begin to remove the wall of
cactus that protected it in sleep.
43. The Ancient Cockroach
He was there
to greet the dinosaurs when they arrived on earth. He is still with us 170
million years and billions of kitchens later. Rather than being honored, this
sage is despised. Nobody likes a cockroach. Perhaps our hatred of this hearty
insect is due to envy. No creature knows more about survival than the
cockroach. A cockroach can live in the middle of the desert or under a kitchen
sink. Recently, roaches have been found living in TV sets-the parts that heat
up provide warmth, and the wax in the set serves as food. Roaches can survive
on almost anything from rose petals to laundry soap. They can even do without
any food or water at all for up to a month. Cockroaches like living with people
because there's always food around. Even ships at sea are plagued by
cockroaches. One sea captain offered a bottle of brandy to any sailor who could
catch one thousand roaches on board the ship. The crew turned in 32,000 of the
pests. Many fancy poisons are used to kill roaches, but there is no hope of
getting rid of them completely. So keep your food wrapped up as tightly as
possible. But remember, the roach's existence is one of those creepy facts of
life on earth.
44. Without Hook and Line
The people
of the Maori tribe of New Zealand take their tickling seriously. Their survival
depends on their ability to tickle. Tickling might not sound like a very hard
or useful activity. But for the Maori, tickling is an important way to get
food. The Maori practice their own brand of tickling on fish. There are many
fish in the shallow coastal waters of New Zealand. They are a main staple in
the diet of the Maori. To catch the fish, a fisherman must first walk slowly
and quietly in the shallow water. But the fish are wary. They often hide near
jagged rocks and coral reefs. They swim quickly from one hiding place to
another. But sometimes the hiding fish will sleep. This is when they are most
vulnerable to the Maori's entrancing tickle. When he spots a sleeping fish, the
keen-eyed fisherman is set to make his move. Very slowly and cautiously he
bends down and starts to tickle his napping food. The sleeping fish responds to
the tickle by wiggling from its hiding spot. With a quick movement, the Maori
fisherman reaches for the stunned fish. He holds on as tightly as he can with
both hands. Supper has been caught with a tickle. The Maori's fishing
techniques may be unusual, but they have been successful for many centuries.
45 Watch Out
for Quicksand!
While hiking
in the swamplands of Florida, Fred Stahl watched Jack Pickett disappear before
his eyes. Pickett had stepped onto what looked like an innocent patch of dry
sand and then started to sink. Within fifteen minutes, Pickett had disappeared
completely beneath the surface. Pickett was a victim of quicksand. If you think
quicksand is something found only in adventure novels or films, you're making a
big mistake. And that mistake could cost you your life. Geologist Gerard H.
Matthes, who once escaped from quicksand himself, always gave this message to
hikers: "Anyone who ever walks off the pavement should learn about
quicksand." It can be found almost anywhere. Here are some of Matthes's
tips on how to prevent being helplessly sucked under by quicksand. First of
all, if you step into quicksand that is firm enough, you may be able to run
out. But you have to move fast. If, however, the sand pulls your legs in too
quickly for you to escape this way, throw yourself flat on your back. That's
right-you can actually float in quicksand. Don't make the common mistake of
raising your arms. Resting on the surface, your arms can help you to float. Any
movements you make should be slow and deliberate. Quick, jerky movements can
cause you to be completely sucked in, just as Jack Pickett was. Try doing a
slow breaststroke or slowly rolling yourself to firm ground. Above all, don't
panic.
46 The Prince Tames a Horse
A horse
named Bucephalus was offered for sale to Philip, King of Macedonia, in about
340 B.C. The king, his son Alexander, and many others went to see it. The horse
appeared extremely fierce. No one could mount it. King Philip was displeased
and said, "Take this wild creature away." But Alexander said,
"What a horse they are losing because they lack the skill and spirit to
manage him!" Philip turned and said, "Young man, you find fault with
your elders as if you know more than they or could manage the horse
better." The prince quietly replied, "I know I can manage the horse
better." "If you should not be able to ride him, what will you give
up?" "I will pay the price of the horse." The king agreed to the
bet. Alexander grasped the horse's bridle and quickly turned him toward the sun
so he would not see his shadow, which was what had disturbed him. While the
spirited horse pranced, Alexander spoke softly and stroked him. Then he leaped
lightly upon the horse's back. Without pulling the reins too hard or using a
whip or spurs, he set Bucephalus to running. He pushed him on to a full gallop.
Philip and his court looked on in great fear. At the end of the field,
Alexander suddenly wheeled the horse and raced back at tremendous speed. Loud
shouts broke out from the group. Alexander's father, weeping with joy, kissed
him and said, "My son, seek another kingdom that may be worthy of your abilities,
for Macedonia is too small for you."
47 No Moisture Here!
They are the
world's driest places. Sometimes rain doesn't fall there for years. These dry
areas-deserts-cover about one-fifth of the earth's surface. Perhaps you think
of a desert as a place filled with sand. This is true of many deserts, but not
all. Areas near the North and South poles are also considered deserts by some
scientists. They define a desert as any area where the moisture that is lost,
mostly by evaporation, is greater than the moisture that falls as rain or snow.
Many deserts are near the equator, where the air is dry and warm. Others are in
regions blocked off from oceans by mountains. In these areas the moisture from
the ocean winds evaporates as the winds pass over the mountains and cool off.
But some deserts are found right next to oceans. Deserts usually form along
coastlines if there is a cold current in the ocean water. The cold wind blowing
across that current and onto the nearby land holds little moisture. Most deserts
get less than ten inches of rain a year. Because the land is so dry, the rain
doesn't penetrate it; it just washes over the surface. Some deserts almost
never get any rain. For instance, it rains in the Atacama Desert on the coast
of Chile about once every hundred years! Not many varieties of plants will grow
in a desert. Some cactuses survive because they store water inside themselves
after a rain. When it does rain, a desert landscape may flourish. Many plants
will put forth bright and beautiful flowers.
48 Protected
by Armor
Where can
you find a cliff built entirely by animals? On the bottom of the ocean!
Underwater reefs are huge walls made by tiny animals called corals. Because
corals are very small, reefs take hundreds of years to build. How do such small
animals accomplish such a great task? The answer is simple. The reefs are
composed of coral skeletons! The coral animals are called "polyps."
They have very soft bodies. Without some kind of "armor," they would
be eaten by fish. To protect themselves, they build limestone shells around
their bodies. Coral polyps live in colonies. They connect themselves to each
other and to the ocean floor. The corals build their limestone skeletons by
taking a mineral called calcium out of the water and depositing it around
themselves. The calcium deposits are very hard. As new coral polyps are born
and attach themselves to the colony, the formation gets bigger. After a long
while, a large reef has grown up. The world's largest coral reef is longer than
the state of New York. It is the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.
49 Knock Knock
Knock on
wood. Woodpeckers do just that. This bird is an amazing creature: it pecks so
hard and fast that its head looks like a blur. The woodpecker knocks on dead
wood, looking for insects to eat. Its chisel-like beak chips away bark and
decayed wood, and the violent tapping disturbs insects hidden in the tree's
cavities. When the woodpecker reaches the insects' home, it spears its dinner
with a barbed and sticky tongue. The woodpecker pecks at a speed of 1,300 miles
per hour. At this speed, the impact of the bird's beak hitting the wood is
almost like that of a supersonic jet smashing into a mountain. Each peck takes
just a thousandth of a second. The movement is quicker than the human eye can
follow, Incredibly, the bird's cherry-sized brain is never injured from all
this furious smashing. There is a secret to the woodpecker's ability to
withstand the great impact of its pecking. The secret lies in the woodpecker's
neck muscles. They are so well coordinated that the head and beak move only in
a straight line. This spreads the shock evenly though the bird's body and into
the tree trunk. Pecking at even a slight angle would kill the woodpecker.
Design experts are using this bird as a model. They hope to come up with a
crash helmet that will better protect people's head from injuries.
50 Never Say Die
On October
17, 1829, Sam Patch did what he had said he would do. He perched on a platform
built beside Niagara Falls and jumped into the water a hundred feet below. A
big crowd had gathered to watch Sam's well-advertised leap. The spectators held
their breath as the daredevil hit the swirling water. At last his head burst
out of the foam, thirty feet clear of the falls, and the crowd let out a mighty
roar. Men waved their hats and yelled out the expression that had become Sam's
trademark: "There's no mistake in Sam Patch!" Sam began his career as
a leaper in 1827, when he jumped eighty feet into the Passaic River from a
bridge that was still under construction. Delighted with the notoriety he
received, Sam traveled from town to town, jumping from masts, cliffs, and
bridges. Then he made his great conquest of Niagara Falls. Sam was spurred on
by the widespread public excitement over his successful leap from the falls. He
turned to the higher Genesee Falls for his next feat. On November 13, a
scaffold was constructed 125 feet above the base of the falls. A huge crowd
gathered on both riverbanks. At 2:00 P.M., Sam climbed the shaky scaffold, made
a brief speech, and jumped. Once again there was a hushed silence as his body
smacked the water. But this time Sam didn't resurface. Sam's body was pulled
from the mouth of the river the following spring. Even so, for years afterward,
a legend persisted that the great Sam Patch was still alive.
51 Leaf-Cutters
A clean dirt
path several inches wide is a sign that you are near a leaf-cutter ant colony.
In one direction the path branches into trails that end at a tree trunk or
peter out in the grass. In the other direction it leads to the colony's nest-a
wide area marked by holes and large rubbish heaps.
The holes
are entrances to the underground nest. The rubbish heaps are piles of old, dry
plant matter that was cleared out of the nest when it was no longer useful.
Leaf-cutters are farmers, and they use leaves and grass to grow their
food-fungi. Fungi are plants that grow on other plants or on decaying matter.
Toadstools and molds are types of fungi. At night the ants go out to forage for
more material to grow food. Each ant carries a piece of leaf at least twice as
large as its own body.
Leaf-cutters
come in all sizes, and, oddly enough, it is the largest ones who do the least
work. They are soldiers, whose main job is to protect the nest. They have
enormous jaws. Because of this, the native Indians of South America, where
these ants are found, put them to an odd use. Instead of using stitches to
close a wound, the Indians hold large leaf-cutter ants up to the edges of a cut
and let them bite it together. Then they pinch off the bodies, leaving the jaws
behind to hold the wound firmly closed.
52 A. Hard
and Beautiful Mineral
What is the
world's hardest natural substance? If you guessed something like iron or
marble, you would be wrong. The world's hardest substance is actually the
diamond. Diamonds are formed deep in the earth and hardened by the intense heat
and pressure found there. That pressure pushes the diamond material up near the
surface into outlets called pipes. There the material cools off, and from there
diamonds can be mined. To bring out a diamond's brilliance, the stone must be
cut and polished. The most valuable diamonds are clear-there are no dull spots
in them. They are also colorless. (A few diamonds are pink or some other color,
but these are rare and very expensive.) Valuable diamonds are fairly large, at
the very least one carat in weight. And they are also well cut. This means they
have even-sided faces, or facets, that reflect light clearly and evenly. If
diamonds are so hard, what is used to cut them? You guessed it: other diamonds.
Many factories also use diamonds to cut other hard substances. Diamonds are
used in polishing as well. Polishing material made of diamond particles can be
used like sandpaper. It can make steel surfaces so smooth that they reflect
like fine mirrors. The world has always valued diamonds. People have fought
over them, and curses have been placed on them. They are a symbol of power as
well as love.
53 No Runs,
No Hits, and Too Many Errors
Some days it
just doesn't pay to go to the ballpark. One day in 1966, Los Angeles Dodger
outfielder Willie Davis was thinking of places he'd rather have been. At the
time, anywhere must have seemed more inviting. The game he would like to have
skipped was no ordinary test. It was the World Series. The year 1966 had been a
good one for the Dodgers. They had clinched the National League Pennant with
ease, and all that was left was the World Series against the Baltimore Orioles.
As far as most fans and sportswriters were concerned, the "Fall Classic"
would be no contest. The Dodgers had powerful hitting and a pitcher who threw
the ball so fast that some people insisted it could cause a sonic boom. But
something unexpected happened. The Orioles' pitching sparkled, and their
hitters were slugging the ball over the outfield fences. All the Dodger fans
could talk about was the "cold Dodger bats"—that is, when they
weren't talking about Willie Davis and "that inning." In this
particular game Davis set a major league record, one that no ball player would
be proud of. In one short inning he made three errors. He let an easy hit skid
by him. Several pitches later, he lost a fly ball in the glare of the sun. And
if that weren’t bad enough, he picked up the ball he had missed and threw it
over the infielder's head. Davis felt bad, but he wasn't alone. The Dodgers
lost the best-out-of-seven series without winning a single game.
54. The Code Talkers
Many people
enjoy secret codes. The harder the code, the more some people will try to
figure it out. In wartime, codes are especially important. They help armies
send news about battles and the size of enemy forces. Neither side wants its
code broken by the other. One very important code was never broken. It was used
during World War II by the Americans. It was a spoken code, never written down.
And it was developed and used by Navajo Indians. They were called the
"Navajo Code Talkers." The Navajos created the code in their own
language. Navajo is hard to learn, and only a few people know it. So it was
pretty certain that the enemy would not be able to understand the Code Talkers.
In addition, the Talkers used code words. They called a submarine an "iron
fish" and a grenade a "potato." If they wanted to spell
something, they used code words for letters of the alphabet. For instance, the
letter a was "ant" or
"apple" or "axe." The Code Talkers worked mostly in the
islands in the Pacific. One or two would be assigned to a battalion of
soldiers. They would send messages by field telephone to the Code Talker in the
next battalion. And he would relay the information to his commander. The Code
Talkers played an important part in several battles. They helped troops coordinate
their movements and attacks. After the war, the U.S. government honored them
for what they had accomplished. Theirs was the most successful wartime code
ever used.
55 Feeling
the Forecast
To find out
what the weather is going to be, most people go straight to the radio,
television, or newspaper to get an expert weather forecast. But if you know
what to look for, you can use your own senses to make weather predictions.
There are many signs that can help you. For example, in fair weather the air pressure
is generally high, the air is still and often full of dust, and faraway objects
may look hazy. But when a storm is brewing, the pressure drops and you are
often able to see things more clearly. Sailors took note of this long ago and
came up with a saying: "The farther the sight, the nearer the rain."
Your sense of smell can also help you detect weather changes. Just before it
rains, odors become stronger. This is because odors are repressed in a fair,
high-pressure center. When a bad weather low moves in, air pressure lessens and
odors are released. You can also hear an approaching storm. Sounds bounce off
heavy storm clouds and return to earth with increased force. An old saying
describes it this way: "Sound traveling far and wide, a stormy day will
betide." And don't scoff if your grandmother says she can feel a storm
coming. It is commonly known that many people feel pains in their bones or in
corns and bunions when the humidity rises, the pressure drops, and bad weather
is on the way.
56 The African
Elephant
The elephant
is the largest of all land animals. It can reach a height of eleven feet and
weigh nearly six tons. The African elephant can also boast the biggest ears in
the world. They can grow as large as three-and-a-half feet across. You might
think that a gigantic animal like the elephant wouldn't have much to worry
about, but it has its problems too. And its huge ears can help it to deal with
many problems ranging from pesky insects to great danger. The ears are very
effective fans that can be used to swat flies. The elephants' huge ears also
help them hear everything that's happening nearby. A mother elephant might hear
the approach of a dangerous lion that would kill her calves. The elephants'
great size can sometimes present a heat problem. The larger an object, the
harder it is for it to lose heat. Elephants live on the hot plains of Africa,
where keeping cool is not an easy task. Elephants' huge ears help them cool
their bodies so they can survive in the heat. The large surfaces of the ears
have many blood vessels that are very close to the surface of the skin. Blood
that is closer to the surface cools more easily. The most impressive use of the
ears, though, is seen in an elephant's threat display. When trying to threaten
another animal, the elephant bellows and charges with both ears spread wide.
This makes the huge beast look almost twice as large as it really is. Few
enemies would dare to stand up to anything that colossal.
57 Jaws
Of all the
fish in the ocean, sharks are the greediest eaters and killers. They suffer
from continual hunger. Almost as soon as they have eaten, they are on the prowl
for more food. Sharks have been described as eating machines, and indeed they
are perfectly designed for that activity. They are powerful swimmers, with
smooth, well-muscled, streamlined bodies.
But the most
remarkable part of a shark is its mouth-a wide gash lined with rows of jagged
teeth. When a shark attacks, it opens its mouth wide until its teeth can stab
straight into the body of its victim. The teeth slice like razors as the shark
twists and rolls its body to tear off a chunk of food. New teeth are constantly
being formed and moving forward to take the place of those lost during the
shark's violent feeding activities. Even very old sharks have razor-sharp
teeth.
The largest
and most fearsome of the species is the great white shark. Its average length
is between fourteen and sixteen feet. A few great whites may reach well over
thirty feet in length. The longest ever recorded was a thirty-seven-footer, a
truly monstrous fish. The great white lives in the tropical seas and sometimes
along the southern coast of the United States.
58 Are You
Superstitious?
Many
superstitious people are afraid of black cats. They believe that black cats
have a strange power. If a black cat crosses their path, they think they will
have bad luck. Black cats haven't always had such a bad reputation. Long ago,
the Egyptians thought that black cats were holy animals. They even worshipped
them. Pasht was an Egyptian goddess who had a woman's body and a cat's head.
Because the Egyptians had so much respect for black cats, they often buried the
sacred creatures with great ceremony. Mummies of cats have often been found in
ancient cemetery ruins. To keep the cats Company after they died, mice were
sometimes buried beside them. Feelings about black cats have always been
strong. People have thought they were either very good or very bad. The people
of Europe in the Middle Ages believed black cats were the evil friends of
witches and the devil. Witches were said to have the power to change themselves
into black cats. People believed that you could not tell whether a black cat
was just a cat or whether it was a witch disguising herself as she plotted some
evil scheme. The brain of a black cat was thought to be a main ingredient in a
witch's brew. Unlike their ancestors of the Middle Ages, the English today
consider black cats to be good luck charms. Fishermen's wives often keep a
black cat around so that their husbands will be protected when they are out at
sea.
59 The Badger
The badger
is a member of the weasel family. It ranges throughout the western United
States. It is both a help and a burden to farmers and ranchers. It kills
harmful rodents, but it also digs deep holes that cause tractors to break
wheels and livestock to break legs.
A clumsy
Critter, the slow-footed badger is built low to the ground, with short legs and
a flat, squat body. It digs like a steam shovel into the rich earth of the
prairie. Its strong, dark feet, each tipped with five two-inch-long nails, can
dig any gopher or ground squirrel out of its burrow.
This
pigeon-toed, round-shouldered ground hugger is dirty yellowish gray with a dark
brown face striped with white. It may grow to more than two feet long and weigh
up to twenty-five pounds. The badger has thirty-four sharp teeth and a menacing
growl and hiss that make it about as sociable as a grizzly bear. Being a close
cousin to the skunk, it doesn't smell very good.
An acute
sense of smell enables the badger to locate food underground. It eats snakes
and snails, insects, rats and mice, gophers, ground squirrels, and other
rodents. Occasionally it will kill ground-nesting birds and eat their nestlings
or eggs, but the badger saves many more birds than it destroys. The rodents it
usually kills are animals that hunt birds. And the holes it digs in its quest
for food provide homes for many animals.
60 Altitude Sickness
Mountain
climbing is becoming a popular sport, but it is also a potentially dangerous
one. People can fall; they may also become ill from drinking bad water. One of
the most common dangers to climbers is altitude sickness, an ailment that can
affect even very experienced climbers.
Altitude
sickness usually begins when a climber goes above 8,000 or 9,000 feet. The
higher one climbs, the less oxygen there is in the air. When people don't get
enough oxygen, they often begin to gasp for air. They may also feel dizzy and
lightheaded. Besides these common symptoms of altitude sickness, others such as
nausea, headache, tiredness, and difficulty sleeping may also occur. At heights
of over 18,000 feet, people may be climbing in a constant daze. This state of
mind can have a serious effect on their judgment.
A few
precautions can help most climbers avoid altitude sickness. The first is not to
go too high too fast. If you climb to 10,000 feet, stay at that height for a
day or two. Your body needs to get used to a high altitude before you climb to
an even higher one. Or if you do climb higher sooner, comeback down to a lower
height when you sleep. Also, drink plenty of liquids and avoid tobacco and
alcohol. When you reach your top height, do light activities rather than sleep
too much. You breathe less when you sleep, so you get less oxygen.
The most
important warning is this: if you have severe symptoms and they don't go away,
go down! Don't risk injury or death because of overconfidence or lack of knowledge.
61. A Light
Blazing Across the Sky
When you
look up at the night sky, what do you see? There are other heavenly bodies out
there besides the moon and stars. One of the most fascinating of these is a
comet. Comets were formed around the same time the Earth was formed. Usually
about five to ten miles across, they are made up of ice and other frozen
liquids and gases. Now and then these "dirty snowballs" begin to
orbit the sun, just as the planets do. Scientists know of over one hundred comets
in orbits that sometimes bring them fairly close to Earth. As a Comet gets
closer to the sun, some of the gases in it begin to unfreeze. The gases combine
with dust particles from the comet to form a cloud thousands of miles across.
As the Comet gets even nearer to the sun, a solar wind blows the cloud behind
the Comet, thus forming its tail. The tail and the generally fuzzy atmosphere
around a Comet are characteristics that can help you to identify this
phenomenon in the night sky. In any given year, about a dozen known comets come
close to the sun in their orbits. There may also be a dozen or more newly
discovered comets. The average person can't see them all, of course. Usually
there are only one or two a year bright enough to be seen with the naked eye.
Comet Hale-Bopp, discovered in 1995, was an unusually bright comet. Its orbit
brought it relatively close to Earth-within 122 million miles of it. But
Hale-Bopp came a long way on its earthly visit. It won't be back in this
vicinity for another four thousand years or so.
62. The Great Stock Market Crash
The stock
market can be a wonderful place to make money. If you buy stock in a company at
$12 a share and later sell it for $24, your investment has doubled. It is
tempting to believe that stock prices will always increase, but they can also
decrease. Prices of shares of all companies can drop simultaneously-and drop a
lot. Then there is a market crash-like the one in 1929. During the last week of
October in 1929, people began to lose confidence in the market and to sell
stock shares in great numbers. On October 29, the worst day, over 16 million
shares of stock were traded-by far the highest number ever sold in one day. By
November 13, the market temporarily bottomed out. In about three weeks it had
lost 40 percent of its value, a drop of about $30 billion. It would be years
before that value was regained. What caused the crash? The 1920s had been years
of tremendous growth and prosperity. Road Construction skyrocketed as people
traded in horses and buggies for cars. Radios and other consumer items rose in
demand as more homes were wired for electricity. Feeling prosperous, many
people looked to the stock market as a way to make money. Many stocks were
bought on margin: put down as little as 10 percent and buy the rest on credit.
Since everyone else was doing the same thing, the value of the market continued
to rise. It seemed as if you couldn't lose. When stock prices began to plummet,
the brokers stopped giving credit and demanded to be paid the money they were
owed. In a panic, people began selling everything they had. The long spiral
down into the Great Depression had begun.
63. The World's Greatest Athlete?
Many people
are good in one athletic event. A few excel in two. But very few can compete in
a sport requiring skill in seven different events. Jackie Joyner-Kersee is
someone who could. Some have called her the world's greatest athlete. Even as a
child, Jackie Joyner wanted to do well in many sports. In high school she
competed in volleyball, basketball, and track. Basketball was her favorite
sport then. She attended college on a four-year basketball scholarship. She
became a basketball All-American. After marrying her coach, Bob Kersee, Jackie
began focusing on track. One of her best events was always the long jump. Over
the years Joyner-Kersee has won many long jump medals. These include an Olympic
gold medal and several world championships. What about the sport with seven
different events? It is called the heptathlon. Besides long jump, it includes
events like hurdles, high jump, and shot put. JoynerKersee competed in this
sport in four different Olympics. She won two gold medals and one silver. Joyner-Kersee
has succeeded for two reasons. Her great athletic ability is one thing. But she
also possesses great mental toughness. That toughness helped her triumph in
spite of her serious asthma and allergies. Joyner-Kersee's last Olympics was in
1996. After that, she played professional basketball for a while. She did one
final heptathlon in 1998 and then retired at the age of thirty-six.
64 Vipers
The family
of snakes called vipers includes some of the deadliest poisonous snakes in the
world. Some of the snakes in this fearsome group are the water moccasin,
rattlesnake, and copperhead (all of which are found in the United States), the
bushmaster and fer-de-lance of South America, and the puff adder of Africa.
Vipers have thick bodies, short tails, and triangular heads. Fangs in their
upper jaws inject poison into their victims' bodies like a hypodermic needle.
When the snakes bite, they contract the muscles around their poison sacs. These
sacs are located behind the eyes. The poison squirts out through the hollow
fangs. Almost a half-teaspoon of poison is put into a victim at one time.
Fortunately, many of these snakes are small, so their bite is not fatal. There
are actually two main types of vipers-the true vipers and the pit vipers. Pit
vipers live in Asia and the Americas. The name comes from a smallhollow in the
side of the head just below the eye. The small hollow, or pit, has a special
nerve that senses heat, helping the pit viper to find its warm-blooded prey.
True vipers don't have this special nerve and must rely on their keen sense of
smell to find their food. Vipers don't usually strike unless they are disturbed
or are looking for food. Still, it is a good idea to stay away from them.
65 The Black Death
Imagine an
illness so serious that people might go to bed well and be dead before morning.
Think of this illness striking most of your family and friends. How would you
respond? This question faced many Europeans in the 1300s as bubonic plague-the
Black Death-swept the continent.
The plague
rampaged across Europe beginning in late 1347. Its symptoms were terrible. In
one form, sufferers developed egg-sized black swellings in their armpits and
groins. These swellings were followed by boils and strange blackblotches on
their skin, the result of internal bleeding. In another form of the disease
swellings didn't develop, but people spit blood instead. In both forms, people
contracted a severe fever, and they were dead within hours or days.
The plague
was spread either by contact with blood or by respiratory infection. The
respiratory infection meant that if a person coughed on you, you could get the
disease. And if you got it, you most probably died. By the time the plague
burned itself out in 1350, over twenty million Europeans had died from it. The
city of Paris lost half of its population; Venice lost about two-thirds.
Sufferers died so fast that there often wasn't time to bury them, and bodies
piled up in the streets. The plague was responsible for a decades-long shortage
of people.
Today an
outbreak of plague could be controlled with antibiotics, but no such cure
existed 650 years ago. Many escaped the only way they could: by deserting sick
friends and families. A few got to isolated areas where the plague had not hit,
but most did not-and died anyway.
66 The Man from Stratford
What makes a
person famous? This is a mystery that many people have pondered. All kinds of
myths surround the lives of well-known people. Most people are familiar with
the works of William Shakespeare, one of the greatest English writers of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Yet how many know Shakespeare the person,
the man behind the works? After centuries of research, scholars are still
trying to discover Shakespeare's personal history. It is not easily found in
his writings. Authors of the time could not protect their works. An acting
company, for example, could change a play if they wanted to. Nowadays writers
have copyrights that protect their work. Many myths arose about Shakespeare.
Some said he had no formal education. Others believe that he began his career
by tending the horses of wealthy men. All of these myths are interesting, but
are they true? Probably not. Shakespeare's father was a respected man in
Stratford, a member of the town council. He sent young William to grammar
school. Most people of Elizabethan times did not continue beyond grammar
school, so Shakespeare did have at least an average education. Some parts of
Shakespeare's life will always remain unknown. The Great London Fire of 1666
burned many important documents that could have been a source of clues. We will
always be left with many questions and few facts.
67 Once Poison, Now a Food
Would you
eat a bacon, lettuce, and love apple sandwich? You probably have eaten many of
them. Love apple was the name used many years ago for the tomato. The tomato
was originally an American plant. It was found in South America by early
Spanish explorers. The word tomato comes from the native Nahuatl word tomatl.
But when it moved north, the plant earned a different name. Remarkably, the
settlers in North America thought it was poisonous. They believed that to eat
it was surely to die. It was said that jilted suitors would threaten to eat a
tomato to cause their cold-hearted lovers remorse. Because of this legend, the
settlers called the tomato a "love apple." While people enjoyed other
native plants, such as corn and Sweet potatoes, everyone avoided the tomato. No
one knows who first dared to eat a tomato. Perhaps someone was brave enough, or
lovesick enough, to try out the truth of the rumors. Of course, whoever ate
this fruit was perfectly safe. No one died from eating a love apple. Still, it
was many years before the people fully believed that the tomato was a safe, and
even good, food. But its use did become common, and the plant was sent across
the ocean to become part of many traditional European dishes,
68
Developing the Desktop Computer
Can you remember
a time without computers? Large computers have been around for many years. But
small ones, the desktop kind, are a fairly new invention. Two people who helped
make small computers popular are Steven Jobs and Stephen Wozniak. The two
technology buffs began designing their first computer in Jobs's bedroom. (They
actually built it in Jobs's parents' garage.) That computer was the Apple I,
and it was mostly a toy. The next year, 1977, they put out the Apple II. It was
the first easy-to-use desktop computer and became a huge seller. Apple
Computer, Inc., took the computer world by storm. IBM, which made big
Computers, did not even enter the desktop computer market until several years
later. In 1984. Apple introduced their latest innovation: the Macintosh. Like
the Apple II, it was an easy-to-use computer. It was the first computer to show
icons such as the "Trash" container on the screen. It was the first
popular computer to use a mouse. The icons and the mouse made it easy to do
things like move and save files. A person could work without memorizing a lot
of confusing keyboard commands. Wozniak and Jobs didn't stay with the company
they founded. And as time went on, the company was less successful. But their
new ideas changed computer use. They were instrumental in bringing the Computer
Age into people's businesses
69 A Dish
Fit for Royalty
When people
think of caviar, they think of elegant parties given by wealthy people.
Actually, not all caviar is terribly costly; you sometimes find
domestic-homegrown-caviar on buffet tables in all-you-can-eat restaurants. But
the best kinds of caviar are very expensive indeed. Caviar is fish eggs. The
top variety comes from three kinds of sturgeons found in the Caspian Sea in
Russia: beluga, osetra, and sevruga. These fish take between nine and fifteen
years to mature and produce eggs. When they do, they generally yield a few
pounds of tiny, dark brown or dark gray eggs apiece. The scarcity of caviar and
the long time it takes to harvest are what make caviar expensive. One ounce of
beluga can cost around $50 to $60 in a retail store. Why do people eat caviar?
Some, naturally, are entranced by anything so expensive. But there are also
people who appreciate the taste. Beluga is said to have a Creamy, buttery
taste. Osetra has a nutty flavor. True fans will eat top-quality caviar by
itself on dry toast points; the fat from the eggs will moisten the bread. If
you've never tried caviar, you might want to see what an inexpensive type
tastes like. Caviar from North American sturgeon costs less than a third as
much as the most expensive Russian types. Some people also call salmon eggs
caviar. These slightly larger, bright red eggs are the least expensive of all.
If you're in doubt, go to the nearest fish buffet and see if you can sample
them there!
70 Asteroids and Meteorites
In addition
to comets, two other relatively small bodies can be found floating around the
solar system. They are known as asteroids and meteorites. Asteroids are
smallish bodies that orbit the sun, mainly in the area between Mars and
Jupiter, Though not large enough to be thought of as planets, asteroids can
range from the size of a small boulder to several hundred miles in diameter.
They are rocky bodies made up of various metals and other substances. Now and
then something will jar an asteroid out of its orbit. Then it may approach
or-very rarely-hit Earth. Meteorites are also small, rocky bodies that have
traveled through space. Some may be broken-off pieces of asteroids; some may be
leftover chunks of comets. Meteorites are pieces of rock from space that
actually hit our planet. When these intruders make contact, what damage do they
do? It all depends on their size and where they hit. Since Earth is mostly made
up of water, a small meteorite falling into the Atlantic Ocean probably won't
harm anything. But some meteorites strike solid ground. A meteorite weighing
about sixty tons once hit near a farm in southern Africa. Another huge one
broke up in the air above Siberia in 1908. It destroyed trees in a twenty-mile
area. The damage from a huge fallen asteroid can be far worse. In eastern
Mexico are the remains of a basin one hundred miles wide where an asteroid
touched Earth 65 million years ago. Enough debris shot forth to block out the
sun's light for decades. When there was light again, all the dinosaurs had
disappeared.
71. El Niño
When you
live in an area for a while, you get used to its climate. You know about how
cold and wet it will be in March and how warm in August. Sometimes, though,
weather conditions occur that create big changes in temperature and rainfall.
One of these is called El Niño. In an El Niño situation the surface water in
the eastern Pacific Ocean, near the coast of Peru, gets unusually warm. (This
warming occurs around Christmas; "El Nino" is Spanish for
"Christ Child.") Rainfall seems to follow the warm water, so that
areas around Peru get floods. But the weather change doesn't stop there.
Regions to the west of the warm water, such as Australia, get very little rain
and so experience drought. El Niño also influences the United States. Usually
California gets very severe rains. The middle and eastern parts of the country
have winters that are much warmer than normal. El Niños have been occurring for
hundreds of years, but people didn't understand what was happening. It was only
in the 1960s that scientists found definite proof that warming in the Pacific
affected weather elsewhere. Computers are continuing to compile information
about how an El Niño works. We know, for instance, that the condition occurs
every two to seven years. Usually it lasts for several months, though sometimes
it can last for years. And its effects can vary: some El Niños are much
stronger than others. Often an El Niño year is followed by one with a condition
called La Nina. In this situation, the Pacific waters get very cold and the
weather patterns of El Nino tend to be reversed.
72. The Witch's Wind
In
California it's called the "Santa Ana." Argentineans call it the
"zonda." It has more than twenty other local names; one of the most
fitting is the "witch's wind." The scientific name of this mysterious
wind is foehn, pronounced fern. A
foehn is a moving mass of air that, after crossing mountains, becomes a dry,
gusty wind that moves with great power. A witch's wind in Texas once flattened
252 oil derricks. One in Austria derailed three streetcars, each weighing over
three tons. There is an unresolved mystery in the witch's wind. The foehn can
have a strange and hard-to-explain effect on people's physical and mental
states. When the wind is blowing, some people experience what in Europe is called
"the foehn disease." Those who suffer from it say they are depressed
and can't concentrate. In Germany, you can even buy anti-foehn pills. In many
places, there have been increases in the numbers of accidents, suicides, and
calls for medical help during the wind. The foehn has been blamed for
everything from drops in factory production to family quarrels. In California
during the 1890s, people who committed crimes of passion during the witch's
wind could use the foehn as an excuse. Some people feel symptoms even before
the wind arrives. They may have headaches or breathing problems. Their skin
becomes taut, and old scars ache. These signs have occurred in people as much
as ten hours before scientific weather equipment detected the foehn's approach.
73 A Fighter
for Justice
He was
denied admission to one law school because he was black. But today that same
school has a law library named after him. You may not know much about Thurgood
Marshall, but he strengthened education rights for African Americans all over
the country. Marshall was born in Baltimore in 1908. Like other African
American students of his time, he went to segregated schools. These schools
were not illegal. An 1896 law stated that schools for blacks and whites could
be "separate but equal." But Marshall knew that most black schools
were not equal. He decided to do something about it. Marshall received a law
degree from Howard University. Then he began to work at changing the country's
schools. Marshall's strategy was to start with colleges and graduate schools,
because he thought judges would sympathize with ambitious young African
Americans searching for an education. In 1935, he successfully sued the
University of Maryland Law School to accept its first black student. Other
cases followed, with similar results. By the 1950s, Marshall was ready to turn
to grade schools and high schools. In 1954, he accepted the case of Linda
Brown, who wanted to attend a white grade school near her home. As a result of
Marshall's arguments, the Supreme Court changed the law. It said that
"separate" schools could never be "equal." In 1967,
Marshall became the first African American appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Until he retired in 1991, he supported many other civil rights bills.
74. What
Makes a Dynasty?
Sports fans
love to discuss dynasties-teams that did so well for so long that while they
were successful they seemed almost to own their sport. They don't necessarily
have to win the World Series or Super Bowl or NBA title every single year. But
in those few years they don't win, they must come pretty close. Who were some
of the great sports dynasties? Certainly the New York Yankees in the 1920s,
when Babe Ruth was playing. (The Yankees also had a dynasty in the '50s and
'60s, with stars like Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle.) There were also the Boston
Celtics, who dominated professional basketball from the late 1950s all the way
through the '60s, and the Chicago Bulls, who owned the sport in the 1990s. The
Green Bay Packers pretty much dominated football in the '60s, in the Vince
Lombardi years. In hockey, the Montreal Canadiens were the team to beat through
much of the '50s, '60s, and '70s. Beyond that, calling any team a dynasty gets
a little dicey. For instance, Pittsburgh, Dallas, and San Francisco have each
played in, and won, several Super Bowls. But have any of these teams dominated
football for an extended period? Do the New York Islanders four consecutive
Stanley Cups in the early 1980s make them a hockey dynasty for that period?
Questions like these don't have hard and fast answers. What you think depends,
to a large extent, on where you live and which teams you support. But that is
what makes sports interesting.
75 A Leader
of Her Country
By the
1990s, people had become accustomed to seeing women in high government posts.
People were not so accustomed to this in the 1960s, however. Yet that is when
Golda Meir became prime minister of Israel. Meir was born in the Ukraine.
However, she emigrated to the United States with her family as a young child.
She grew up in Milwaukee, where her mother ran a grocery store. Meir trained to
be a schoolteacher and married when she was about twenty. As a young woman,
Meir heard stories of the struggles to establish a Jewish homeland. In 1921,
she and her husband moved to Palestine to work with the Jewish groups there.
She was instrumental in helping Israel become an independent state in 1948.
When the new government was formed, Meir was the only woman to belong to the
provisional council of state, the legislative part of the government. She took
an active role in establishing policy. In 1969, the Israeli prime minister died
suddenly, and Meir was chosen as a compromise candidate for the position. She
remained prime minister until 1974. Seventy-one years old when she took office,
Meir was a plain-looking, plain-dressing woman. She reminded some people of a
kindly grandmother. But it was a mistake to underestimate her strength and
will. She led her country through peace and war. After her death in 1978, Meir
was called "one of the great women in Jewish and world history."
