000 02566cam a22003253u 4500
001 76706
003 UtSlPG
005 20260610134757.0
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040 _aUtSlPG
041 7 _aen
_2iso639-1
050 4 _aQD
100 1 _aMayhew, Henry,
_d1812-1887
245 1 4 _aThe wonders of science
264 1 _aSalt Lake City, UT :
_bProject Gutenberg,
_c2025
300 _a1 online resource :
_bmultiple file formats
336 _atext
_btxt
_2rdacontent
337 _acomputer
_bc
_2rdamedia
338 _aonline resource
_bcr
_2rdacarrier
500 _aRelease date is 2025-08-19
508 _aSteven desJardins and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
520 _a"The wonders of science : Or, young Humphry Davy (the Cornish apothecary''s boy,…." by Henry Mayhew is a juvenile biography written in the mid-19th century. It traces the early life, character, and self-education of Humphry Davy, presenting his path from poor Cornish boy to aspiring man of science as an example for young readers, blending moral purpose with lively popular science. The opening of this work dedicates the story to Michael Faraday and quotes Faraday’s own account of how Davy first encouraged him, then explains the author’s aim: to inspire boys through a largely faithful, readable life of Davy while avoiding outdated science. The narrative begins with Davy’s father’s debts, Mr. Tonkin’s stern stewardship, and a vivid Penzance scene that contrasts local hardship with rising fashions; it then follows Humphry to the Land’s End, where, in grief, he vows to reform and support his widowed mother and siblings. At home he renews that promise, while his mother recalls his precocity; soon she opens a millinery business, Tonkin urges a practical path, and a sunset walk to St. Michael’s Mount becomes a gentle lesson in natural history, physiology, and humane feeling that awakens Humphry’s intellectual hunger. Apprenticed to a local surgeon-apothecary, he resolves to be useful, and a report of a catastrophic coal-mine explosion—highlighting that firedamp ignites by flame but not by sparks—plants an early seed of the ideas that will shape his future. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
534 _nOriginal publication data not identified
653 _aDavy, Humphry, Sir, 1778-1829
653 _aScientists -- Great Britain -- Biography
700 1 _aGilbert, John,
_d1817-1897
856 4 0 _uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76706
999 _c117431
_d117431