Audiobook · read by volunteers
Fairyland of Science
Arabella B. Buckley (1840–1929)
Read by Patricia Oakley, J. M. Smallheer, Ashwin Jain, Ruth Golding, Auntie Em · 10 chapters · 6 h 55
About the book
Most people think of science as a pile of dry facts, and Arabella Buckley set out to prove them wrong. The Fairyland of Science is a series of lectures for young people, first delivered in the nineteenth century and turned into a book that charmed readers of every age. With clear language and an inviting tone, she explains how sunbeams do their work, why the air behaves as it does, how water travels, how water and ice sculpt the land, how a primrose lives, how a piece of coal has its history and how bees work in the hive. Buckley treats her audience as capable and curious, and she writes as someone who finds nature endlessly wonderful. Five LibriVox volunteers share the ten lectures in nearly seven hours.
Introduction
Arabella Buckley (1840-1929) was an English writer who worked as secretary to the geologist Sir Charles Lyell and later became a popular author on natural history. She belonged to a generation of Victorian writers who sought to bring scientific ideas to a wide audience, particularly young readers and women, who had fewer chances for formal scientific education.
The Fairyland of Science was published in 1879 and quickly became one of the best-known books of its kind. It is based on a series of lectures she gave in London, and its structure follows the format: each lecture takes up a subject, from the energy of sunlight to the movement of the air, and invites the audience to look at familiar things with new attention. The science is that of her time, so some details are dated, but the way she explains principles is still engaging and clear. She was a supporter of Darwin and later wrote about evolution as well.
This recording has ten lectures and lasts almost seven hours. It was read by several LibriVox volunteers, among them Patricia Oakley, J. M. Smallheer and Ashwin Jain. It makes a gentle and rewarding listen for curious people of any age, and a pleasant reminder that the best popular science treats readers as partners in wonder. Today it is also valuable as a window into Victorian ideas of how science should be taught.
Public domain
Arabella B. Buckley died in 1929: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text