This is a story about a book that I found in my collection, its author, and the boy who owned it. The book is The Boy's Playbook of Science, first published in 1860 by John Henry Pepper (1821–1900). On the flyleaf is written “Arthur G. Webster; Christmas/75; from Mama.” Arthur Gordon Webster (1863–1923) was one of the founders of the American Physical Society, and was 12 when he was given this book.
Topics
Books
REFERENCES
1.
Joseph S. Ames, “Biographical Memoir of Arthur Gordon Webster, 1863–1923,” presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Academy of Sciences in 1937, available at http://books.nap.edu/html/biomems/awebster.pdf. The best reference for Webster is:
Melba
Phillips
, “Arthur Gordon Webster, founder of the APS
,” Phys. Today
40
, 48
–52
(1987
).2.
John Henry Pepper, The Boy's Playbook of Science (Routledge, Warne, and Routledge, London, 1860), p. 1.
3.
Ref. 2, p. 58.
4.
Ref. 2, p. 192.
5.
Ref. 2, p. 190.
6.
Ref. 2, p. 71.
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© 2009 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2009
American Association of Physics Teachers
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