
BOYS' SECOND BOOK OF INVENTIONS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
CHAPTER I THE MIRACLE OF RADIUM Story of the Marvels and Dangers of the New Element Discovered by Professor and Madame Curie
CHAPTER II FLYING MACHINES Santos-Dumont's Steerable Balloons
CHAPTER III THE EARTHQUAKE MEASURER Professor John Milne's Seismograph
CHAPTER IV ELECTRICAL FURNACES How the Hottest Heat is Produced—Making Diamonds
CHAPTER V HARNESSING THE SUN The Solar Motor
CHAPTER VI THE INVENTOR AND THE FOOD PROBLEM Fixing of Nitrogen—Experiments of Professor Nobbe
CHAPTER VII MARCONI AND HIS GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS New Experiments in Wireless Telegraphy
CHAPTER VIII SEA-BUILDERS The Story of Lighthouse Building—Stone-tower Lighthouses, Iron Pile Lighthouses, and Steel Cylinder Lighthouses
Step into the bustling world of early‑twentieth‑century innovation, where daring inventors and brilliant scientists push the boundaries of what’s possible. From Marconi’s groundbreaking trans‑Atlantic radio signal to Curie’s luminous work with radium, the book paints vivid pictures of experiments that changed daily life. Readers also soar with pioneering aviators like Santos‑Dumont and the majestic airships of Count Zeppelin, while seismic pioneers such as Professor Milne reveal how the Earth’s tremors were first recorded.
Each chapter blends clear, lively explanations with rich, descriptive detail, letting listeners imagine the glow of a furnace forging carborundum or the crackle of electric arcs fixing nitrogen. The narrative celebrates curiosity and the spirit of discovery, offering a window into the tools, challenges, and triumphs that shaped modern technology. It’s an engaging guide for anyone eager to explore the remarkable inventions that laid the groundwork for today’s world.
Language
en
Duration
~4 hours (235K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Chris Curnow and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
Release date
Nov 15, 2013
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1870–1946
A pioneering American journalist, he helped define the muckraking spirit of the Progressive Era and later became a Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer. Writing both under his own name and as David Grayson, he moved easily between hard reporting and reflective, personal prose.
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