Quick Excerpts, from a Library of 492 Titles

Generated 2022-07-28 13:26:21

Excerpt #1, from An Introduction to the History of Science, by Walter Libby

…was maintained; as a rule from the zones abandoned by the planet-mass satellites resulted. Differences of temperature and density of the parts of the original mass account for the eccentricity of orbits, and deviations from the plane of the equator. In his Celestial Mechanics (1825) Laplace states that, according to Herschel’s observations, Saturn’s rotation is slightly quicker than that of its rings. This seemed a confirmation of the hypothesis of the Exposition du Système du Monde. When Laplace presented the first edition of this earlier work to Napoleon, the First Consul said: “Newton has spoken of God in his book. I have already gone through yours, and I have not found that name in it a single time.” To this Laplace is said to have replied: “First Citizen Consul, I have not had need of that hypothesis.” The astronomer did not, however, profess atheism; like Kant he felt competent to explain on mechanical principles the development of the solar system from the point at which he undertook it. In his later years he desired that the misleading anecdote should be suppressed. So far was he from self-sufficiency and dogmatism that his last utterance proclaimed the limitations of even the greatest intellects: “What we know is little enough, what we don’t know is immense” (Ce que nous connaissons est peu de chose, ce que nous ignorons est immense)….

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Excerpt #2, from Radioisotopes and Life Processes (Revised), by Baserga and Kisieleski

…Cell Structure [Illustration: Figure 2 Generalized diagram of a cell, showing the organelles, or “little organs”, of its internal structure. The organelles that are labeled are important for this booklet.] Cell membrane Cytoplasm Chromatin Mitochondrion Nucleolus Endoplasmic reticulum Nucleus Nuclear membrane The basic structure of a cell is shown in Figure 2. Each cell consists of a dense inner structure called the nucleus, which is surrounded by a less dense mass of cytoplasm. The nucleus is separated from the cytoplasm by a double envelope, called the nuclear membrane, which is peppered with perforations. The cytoplasm contains a network of membranes, which form the boundaries of countless canals and vesicles (or pouches), and is laden with small bodies called ribosomes. This membranous network is called the endoplasmic reticulum and is distinct from the mitochondria, which are membranous organelles (little organs)…

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Excerpt #3, from Dracula, by Bram Stoker

…so he contented himself after looking the place over and making up his mind as to what kind of a place he had got to by saying: ‘Lor’ bless yer, sir, I wouldn’t mind what was said to me in a bloomin’ madhouse. I pity ye and the guv’nor for havin’ to live in the house with a wild beast like that.’ Then he asked his way civilly enough, and I told him where the gate of the empty house was; he went away, followed by threats and curses and revilings from our man. I went down to see if I could make out any cause for his anger, since he is usually such a well-behaved man, and except his violent fits nothing of the kind had ever occurred. I found him, to my astonishment, quite composed and most genial in his manner. I tried to get him to talk of the incident, but he blandly asked me questions as to what I meant, and led me to believe that he was completely oblivious of the affair. It was, I am sorry to say, however, only another instance of his cunning, for within half an hour I heard of him again. This time he had broken out through the window of his room, and was running down the avenue. I called to the attendants to follow me, and ran after him, for I feared he was intent on some mischief. My fear was justified when I saw the same cart which had passed before coming down the road, having on it some great wooden boxes. The men were wiping their foreheads, and were flushed in the face, as if with violent exercise. Before I could get up to him the…

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Excerpt #4, from On the Anzac trail: Being extracts from the diary of a New Zealand sapper, by Anzac

…of Valetta. Before we could get in, however, we were shoo’d off by the Powers that Be. We didn’t seem to be the party they wanted, so we had to hit back to the old trail. Apart from wishing to see the place and getting a chance to stretch my legs, I had a personal interest in paying it a visit, as a great-uncle of mine, who had been a fleet-surgeon during the Crimean War, lay buried in the naval cemetery in Valetta. However, it wasn’t to be. The weather all through the Mediterranean remained as near perfect as they make it, hence seasickness was a thing of the past. We had the usual boat-drills, fire alarms and so forth. At that time there were no submarines down south, so we travelled with all lights going, both aloft and below. What with sea games, boxing, concerts, and cards the time passed quickly. Likewise our money. Faro and Crown and Anchor were the favourite card games; you could lose your partable cash fairly slickly at either. I have seen more than one pound resting on the turn of a single card. I reckon Colonials are to a man born gamblers, so it wasn’t surprising that our available capital should be “floating”—in more ways than one. However, some one introduced a roulette table, and our cash soon floated all one way, the “bank” taking no risks and the “limit” being strictly enforced. Needless to say, the bank was never broken—but I fancy the wheel was….

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Excerpt #5, from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon

…foreign conquest, was the object of his policy; and that his principal care was to employ the forces of Alaric at a distance from Italy. This design could not long escape the penetration of the Gothic king, who continued to hold a doubtful, and perhaps a treacherous, correspondence with the rival courts; who protracted, like a dissatisfied mercenary, his languid operations in Thessaly and Epirus, and who soon returned to claim the extravagant reward of his ineffectual services. From his camp near Aemona, 102 on the confines of Italy, he transmitted to the emperor of the West a long account of promises, of expenses, and of demands; called for immediate satisfaction, and clearly intimated the consequences of a refusal. Yet if his conduct was hostile, his language was decent and dutiful. He humbly professed himself the friend of Stilicho, and the soldier of Honorius; offered his person and his troops to march, without delay, against the usurper of Gaul; and solicited, as a permanent retreat for the Gothic nation, the possession of some vacant province of the Western empire. 100 (return) [ Comitatur euntem Pallor, et atra fames; et saucia lividus ora Luctus; et inferno stridentes agmine morbi. —-Claudian in vi….

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Excerpt #6, from Astounding Stories of Super

…have been located." For my part, I was too weary to think. I just staggered on. A crowd of slim, darting white shapes surrounded us. They swam before us, showing the way. The five patriarchs walked majestically before us; and between us, smiling at us through the thick lenses of our headpieces, walked Imee. Oh, it was a triumphal procession, and had I been less weary, I presume I would have felt quite the hero. * * * * * Imee pictured for us, as we went along, the happiness, the gratefulness of her people. Already, she informed us, great numbers of young men were clearing away the bodies of the dead Rorn. She was so happy she could hardly restrain herself. A dim skeleton shape bulked up at my left. I turned to look at it, and Imee, watching me through the lights of my head-piece, nodded and smiled. Yes, this was the very hulk by which she had been swimming when the shark had attacked her, the shark which had been the cause of the accident. She darted on to show me the very rib upon which her head had struck, stunning her so that she had drifted, unconscious and storm-tossed, to the shore of Mercer’s estate. I studied the wreck. It was battered and tilted on its beam ends, but…

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Excerpt #7, from Short Stories for High Schools, by Rosa Mary Redding Mikels

…tackler who clung to his waist, he floundered to earth with most of the Princeton team piled above him. But the ball lay beyond the fateful chalk-line, the Yale touchdown was won, and the game was tied. The captain clapped Seeley on the shoulder, nodded at the ball, and the full-back limped on to the field to kick the goal or lose a victory. There were no more signs of nervousness in his bearing. With grave deliberation he stood waiting for the ball to be placed in front of the goal-posts. The sun had dropped behind the lofty grand-stands. The field lay in a kind of wintry twilight. Thirty thousand men and women gazed in tensest silence at the mud-stained, battered youth who had become the crowning issue of this poignant moment. Up in the press-box a thick-set, grayish man dug his fists in his eyes and could not bear to look at the lonely, reliant figure down yonder on the quiet field. The father found courage to take his hands from his face only when a mighty roar of joy boomed along the Yale side of the amphitheatre, and he saw the ball drop in a long arc behind the goal-posts. The kick had won the game for Yale. Once clear of the crowds, Henry Seeley hurried toward the training quarters. His head was up, his shoulders squared, and he walked with the free stride of an athlete. Mr. Richard Giddings danced madly across to him:…

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Excerpt #8, from The American Diary of a Japanese Girl, by Yoné Noguchi

…23rd—A letter from my father arrived. “O Papa, please don’t! I am tired of such a dirty conference.” I scoffed. I tore the paper into shreds. “What a sullen lady! What did Otto San write? Marriage proposal, I reckon!” my uncle intruded. “Papa threatened me with a list of suitors. He cried, ‘Chance, chance!’ like the gate-man of an ennichi show. Pray grant me for once in my life, Uncle, to say: ‘The marriage lottery go to the dogs!’ How many Jap girls kill themselves from the burden of such a glued union, do you suppose?” “Then, ‘free marriage’?” “Of course!” “It’s very beautiful, Miss Morning Glory.” “Why not?” “You are Japanese, aren’t you?” “Did you ever think I was a Meriken jin?” “Well, then, how did you come to know young men in a country where familiarity with one is regarded as a crime for a girl?” “Things all wrong in Nippon, Uncle!” “I am sorry you were born a Jap.” “I’ll never go back to Japan, I think. The dictionary for Jap girls…

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Excerpt #9, from The Pirates’ Who’s Who, by Philip Gosse

…Hanged in Virginia in 1718 with the rest of Blackbeard’s crew. MASSEY, CAPTAIN JOHN. As a lieutenant, he “served with great applause” in the army in Flanders, under the command of the Duke of Marlborough. He afterwards sailed from the Thames in the Gambia Castle, a ship of the African Company, in command of a company of soldiers which was being sent to garrison the fort. The merchants of Gambia were supposed to victual this garrison, but the rations supplied were considered by Massey to be quite insufficient. He quarrelled with the Governor and merchants, and took his soldiers back on board the ship, and with Lowther, the second mate, seized the ship and turned pirate. Lowther and Massey eventually quarrelled, for the latter, being a soldier, “was solicitous to move in his own sphere”–that is, he wanted to land his troops and plunder the French West Indian settlements. In the end Massey and a few followers were permitted to go off in a captured sloop, and in this sailed for Port Royal, Jamaica. Arrived there, “with a bold countenance he went to the Governor” and told a long and plausible tale of how he had managed to escape from the pirates at the first opportunity. He deceived the sympathetic Governor, and was sent with Captain Laws to hunt for Lowther. Returning to Jamaica without finding Lowther, he was granted a “certificate of his surrender,” and came to England as a passenger….

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Excerpt #10, from Contemporary One

…[The FORMER POOR MAN grunts in irritation and turns his back on her. VAIN WOMAN. I cannot hear a word that is said to me. No one seems to want me around, and I am not invited out any more. I have the feeling that people are making fun of me instead of praising my beauty. Oh, it is dreadful to be deaf. [Getting hysterical.] I want the Judge to take away this deafness. I would rather have my wrinkles. [IMP shakes his head in pretended sympathy, saying: “Too bad, too bad.” [She misunderstands and cries out. VAIN WOMAN. Has the Judge given away my wrinkles? I want them back. I want my very own wrinkles, too. Wrinkles are distinguished-looking. [Beginning to sob.] I don’t want to be deaf any longer. IMP. [Running over to the FORMER POOR MAN.] Say, this lady feels very bad. Can’t you cheer her up a little? FORMER POOR MAN. [Who is still rocking back and forth with his own misery, looks up at IMP in disgust.] Cheer–her–up! Me? What’s the joke? [The VAIN WOMAN walks to the curtained door, looks in as if seeking something, then returns to a chair, where she sits, weeping softly….

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Excerpt #11, from A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 1, by Surendranath Dasgupta

…inferred). Thus it is that the invariable concomitance of the li@nga with the li@ngin, as safeguarded by the conditions noted above, is what leads us to make a valid inference [Footnote ref l]. We perceived in many cases that a li@nga (e.g. smoke) was associated with a li@ngin (fire), and had thence formed the notion ___________________________________________________________________ [Footnote 1: See Nyâyamañjari on anumâna.] 346 that wherever there was smoke there was fire. Now when we perceived that there was smoke in yonder hill, we remembered the concomitance (vyâpti) of smoke and fire which we had observed before, and then since there was smoke in the hill, which was known to us to be inseparably connected with fire, we concluded that there was fire in the hill. The discovery of the li@nga (smoke) in the hill as associated with the memory of its concomitance with fire (_t@rtîya-li@nga-parâmars’a) is thus the cause (_anumitikara@na_ or anumâna) of the inference (anumiti). The concomitance of smoke with fire is technically called vyâpti. When this refers to the concomitance of cases containing smoke with those having fire, it is called bahirvyâpti; and when it refers to the conviction of the concomitance of smoke with fire, without any…

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Excerpt #12, from The Intrusion of Jimmy, by P. G. Wodehouse

…He went on. Molly was sitting quite still, looking into the shrubbery. He assumed she was listening; but whether she was or not, he must go on talking. The situation was difficult. Silence would make it more difficult. “Now, look at Lord Dreever,” he said. “There’s a young man with one of the oldest titles in England. He could go anywhere and do what he liked, and be excused for whatever he did because of his name. But he doesn’t. He’s got the right stuff in him. He doesn’t go racketing around–” “His uncle doesn’t allow him enough pocket-money,” said Molly, with a jarring little laugh. “Perhaps, that’s why.” There was a pause. McEachern required a few moments in which to marshal his arguments once more. He had been thrown out of his stride. Molly turned to him. The hardness had gone from her face. She looked up at him wistfully. “Father, dear, listen,” she said. “We always used to understand each other so well!” He patted her shoulder affectionately. "You can’t mean what you say? You know I don’t love Lord Dreever. You know he’s only a boy. Don’t you want me to marry a man? I love this old place, but surely you can’t think that it can really matter in a thing like…

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