Natural Wonders Every Child Should Know by Edwin Tenney Brewster
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| Natural Wonders Every Child Should Know |
This book is a lively introduction to biology and natural science, written for young readers but rich enough for adult learners. Brewster begins with the mystery of life inside an egg — how a chick forms and hatches — and gradually expands to explore plants, animals, and humans.
He treats growth, instincts, senses, and thought as parts of one continuous story of living things. The tone is both scientific and philosophical, encouraging readers to observe nature closely and think about what makes life “alive.”
This book introduces young readers to the fascinating processes of life and nature. Brewster explains how living things grow, sense, and think, connecting human development to the wider natural world.
He writes in a clear, engaging style that encourages curiosity and observation rather than rote learning.
The chapters move from simple biological beginnings — eggs and plants — to complex ideas about thought, perception, and the senses. It’s both a science primer and a philosophical reflection on what it means to be alive.
📖 Some Contents
Chapters I–IV
How the chicken gets inside the egg; other sorts of eggs; little fishes in the brook; eggs of plants.
Chapters V–X
What little boys and girls are made of; living bricks; how much of us is alive; how we grow, grow up, and grow old.
Chapters XI–XVI
Why we grow at all; things that do not have to be learned; why we like certain things; animals’ games; instincts of chicks and kittens; certain stupidities of animals.
Chapters XVII–XXI
How we differ from animals; speech and thinking; right‑handedness; where we do our thinking; how animals think.
Chapters XXII–XXIV
What plants know and can do; plant‑like doings of animals.
Chapters XXV–XXX
The five senses and the other five; eyes; seeing and believing; other senses; sight and hearing of ants; ants’ noses.
Chapters XXXI–XXXIV
Other eyes and ears; having senses and using them; seeing in the mind’s eye; ear minds and others.
