My Science School

Long Walk to Freedom is an autobiography written by South African President Nelson Mandela, and first published in 1994 by Little Brown & Co. The book profiles his early life, coming of age, education and 27 years in prison.

The book won the Alan Paton Award in 1995 and has been published in many languages, including an Afrikaans translation by Antjie Krog.

Long Walk to Freedom has been adapted into a film titled Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom directed by Justin Chadwick, written by William Nicholson, and produced by Anant Singh. Mandela personally awarded the film rights to the book to Singh's company some years before 2009. Singh believes that as the film is based on Mandela's writing, it will be the "definitive" biopic of him. English actor Idris Elba portrays Mandela in the film. The film was limited released on 29 November 2013 in the United States. The full release happened on Christmas Day 2013 in the United States. When the film was shown in London for Prince William and his wife, Nelson Mandela's death was announced.

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Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (1995) is a memoir by Barack Obama that explores the events of his early years in Honolulu and Chicago until his entry into Harvard Law School in 1988.

After Obama won the U.S. Senate Democratic primary victory in Illinois in 2004, the book was re-published that year. He gave the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (DNC) and won the Illinois Senate seat in the fall. Obama launched his presidential campaign three years later. The 2004 edition includes a new preface by Obama and his DNC keynote address.

The book "may be the best-written memoir ever produced by an American politician," wrote Time columnist Joe Klein. In 2008, The Guardian's Rob Woodard wrote that Dreams from My Father "is easily the most honest, daring, and ambitious volume put out by a major US politician in the last 50 years." Michiko Kakutani, the Pulitzer Prize-winning critic for The New York Times, described it as "the most evocative, lyrical and candid autobiography written by a future president." Writing for the Guardian, literary critic Robert McCrum wrote that Obama had "executed an affecting personal memoir with grace and style, narrating an enthralling story with honesty, elegance and wit, as well as an instinctive gift for storytelling." McCrum had included the book in his list of the 100 best non-fiction books of all time.

The audiobook edition earned Obama the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 2006. Five days before being sworn in as President in 2009, Obama secured a $500,000 advance for an abridged version of Dreams from My Father for middle-school-aged children.

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Playing It My Way is the autobiography of former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. It was launched on 5 November 2014 in Mumbai. The book summarises Tendulkar's early days, his 24 years of international career and aspects of his life that have not been shared publicly.

In the book, Sachin Tendulkar mentioned that just months before the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Greg Chappell, then the coach of the Indian cricket team, visited Tendulkar at his home and suggested that he should take over the captaincy from Rahul Dravid, then the team captain. Chappell however denied this, stating that he never contemplated Tendulkar replacing Dravid as captain. Tendulkar also mentioned in the book that John Wright "took over as coach of India in 2005", when Wright actually took over five years earlier, and got many scorecards wrong.

 He has been playing the game since he was eleven years old and debuted in a Test match against Pakistan at the age of 16. He has represented Mumbai domestically and India at an International level for close to 24 years. Among several other notable achievements, he is the only player to have scored one hundred international centuries, to have completed more than 30,000 runs in international cricket and the first batsman to score a double century in an One Day International.

Tendulkar has been awarded the Bharat Ratna for his contribution towards Indian sports and is the youngest recipient and the first sportsperson to receive the award so far.The book is in Sachin's own words as told to his co-writer Boria Majumdar, senior sports journalist and cricket historian who worked closely with Sachin.

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Mein Kampf is a 1925 autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germany.

In Mein Kampf, Hitler used the main thesis of "the Jewish peril", which posits a Jewish conspiracy to gain world leadership. The narrative describes the process by which he became increasingly antisemitic and militaristic, especially during his years in Vienna. He speaks of not having met a Jew until he arrived in Vienna, and that at first his attitude was liberal and tolerant. When he first encountered the antisemitic press, he says, he dismissed it as unworthy of serious consideration. Later he accepted the same antisemitic views, which became crucial to his program of national reconstruction of Germany.

Mein Kampf has also been studied as a work on political theory. For example, Hitler announces his hatred of what he believed to be the world's two evils: Communism and Judaism.

In the book Hitler blamed Germany's chief woes on the parliament of the Weimar Republic, the Jews, and Social Democrats, as well as Marxists, though he believed that Marxists, Social Democrats, and the parliament were all working for Jewish interests. He announced that he wanted to completely destroy the parliamentary system, believing it to be corrupt in principle, as those who reach power are inherent opportunists.

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Open: An Autobiography is a memoir written by former professional tennis player Andre Agassi with assistance from J. R. Moehringer published on November 9, 2009. Throughout the book, Agassi, an eight-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1, details his challenging childhood under the supervision of a demanding father and prolonged struggles with the physical and psychological tolls of professional tennis.

During the Open Era, Agassi was the first male player to win four Australian Open titles, a record that was later surpassed by Novak Djokovic when he won his fifth title in 2015, and then by Roger Federer in 2017. Agassi is the second of five male singles players to achieve the Career Grand Slam in the Open Era after Rod Laver and before Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic; he is the fifth of eight in history to make the achievement. He is also the first of two men to achieve the Career Golden Slam (Career Grand Slam and Olympic gold medal, the other being Nadal), and the only man to win a Career Super Slam (Career Grand Slam, plus the Olympic gold medal, plus a title at the year-end championships).

Agassi was the first male player to win all four Grand Slam tournaments on three different surfaces (hard, clay and grass), and the last American male to win both the French Open (in 1999) and the Australian Open (in 2003). He also won 17 ATP Masters Series titles and was part of the winning Davis Cup teams in 1990, 1992 and 1995. Agassi reached the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in 1995 but was troubled by personal issues during the mid-to-late 1990s and sank to No. 141 in 1997, prompting many to believe that his career was over. Agassi returned to No. 1 in 1999 and enjoyed the most successful run of his career over the next four years. During his 20-plus year tour career, Agassi was known by the nickname "The Punisher".

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The 'Wings of Fire' is one such autobiography by visionary scientist Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, who from very humble beginnings rose to be the President of India. The book is full of insights, personal moments and life experiences of Dr. Kalam. It gives us an understanding on his journey of success. Dr. Kalam by narrating his life journey evokes the reader to identify with one’s inner fire and potential, for he was of the firm belief that each one of us was born with the strength and potential to make a tangible change in the world. How he inspired himself to achieve dreams and how he went about accomplishing so much is what the book captures nicely. The book recollects many anecdotes and stories from childhood, his time at school and college. The time spent at the Langley Research Center, NASA and Wallops Flight Facility gets a lot of attention. Personal tragedies have not been left out. The time when he lost his father and how he felt when conferred with many awards like the Padma Bhushan have been written in much detail. The second half of the book deals with Dr Kalam, the scientist who made a significant contribution in developing the countries guided missile program, a pioneering effort for the security of the nation. It's not with reason that he was nicknamed as the 'Missile Man of India'.

Kalam served as the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister and Secretary of the Defence Research and Development Organisation from July 1992 to December 1999. The Pokhran-II nuclear tests were conducted during this period in which he played an intensive political and technological role. Kalam served as the Chief Project Coordinator, along with Rajagopala Chidambaram, during the testing phase. Media coverage of Kalam during this period made him the country's best known nuclear scientist. However, the director of the site test, K Santhanam, said that the thermonuclear bomb had been a "fizzle" and criticised Kalam for issuing an incorrect report. Both Kalam and Chidambaram dismissed the claims.

In 1998, along with cardiologist Soma Raju, Kalam developed a low cost coronary stent, named the "Kalam-Raju Stent". In 2012, the duo designed a rugged tablet computer for health care in rural areas, which was named the "Kalam-Raju Tablet".

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Malavath Purna is an Indian mountaineer. On 25 May 2014, Purna scaled the highest peak of Mount Everest and, aged 13 years and 11 months, became the youngest Indian and the youngest female in the world to have reached the summit.

Purna was born on 10 June 2000 to Lakshmi and Devidas in Pakala village, Telangana. For her education, she joined Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society. When she was 10-years-old, her father, Devidas Malavath encouraged her to join TSWREIS, Tadwai. Like any other father, he too wanted his daughter to get a better education and experience a life beyond her village.

Poorna also became the first tribal woman in the world to set foot on the six tallest mountain peaks across six continents.

So far, Poorna has scaled Mt Everest in 2014 (Asia), Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2016 (Africa), Mt. Elbrus in 2017 (Europe), Mt. Aconcagua in 2019 (South America), Mt. Cartsnez in 2019 (Oceania), and Mt. Vinson Massif again in 2019 (Antarctica).

When she reached Mt. Elbrus in Europe, she unfurled a 50ft long Indian flag while singing the Indian National Anthem.

A film was produced by Rahul Bose depicting the life struggle and success story of Malavath Purn. The name of the film is ‘Poorna’.

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The Story of My Experiments with Truth autobiography covers all aspects of Mahatma Gandhi’s life, right from childhood to the year 1921. It gives a peek into how Gandhi’s ideals and principles developed through his many experiences and life events. 

In the introduction, M K Gandhi talks of his apprehensions about writing his autobiography, as it was a practice peculiar to the West. There was also the possibility of a shift in the mindset, of the change in the set of principles he adhered to, a revision of his future plans, which could influence those who based their conduct on his words. So, he decided to tell the story of his numerous experiments with Absolute Truth. The unusual autobiography covers his life from early childhood through to 1921. It is a window to the workings of Mahatma Gandhi’s mind, to the emotions of his heart, to understanding what drove this seemingly ordinary man to the heights of being the father of a nation – India. In 1999, the book was designated as one of the ‘100 Best Spiritual Books of the 20th Century’.

Gandhi's autobiography is very different from other autobiographies. The autobiographies normally contain self-praise by the authors. They want to criticize their opponents and boost their own image in the people's eyes. Gandhi's autobiography is completely free from all this. It is marked with humility and truthfulness. He had not hidden anything. In fact, he is rather too harsh on himself. He did not want to show to the world how good he was. He only wanted to tell the people the story of his experiments with Truth, for Gandhi, was the supreme principle, which includes many other principles. Realization of the Truth is the purpose of human life. Gandhi always strove to realize the Truth. He continuously tried to remove impurities in himself. He always tried to stick to the Truth as he knew and to apply the knowledge of the Truth to everyday life. He tried to apply the spiritual principles to the practical situations. He did it in the scientific spirit. Sticking to the truth means Satyagraha. Gandhi therefore called his experiments as 'Experiments with Truth' or 'Experiments in the science of Satyagraha.' Gandhi also requested the readers to treat those experiments as illustrative and to carry out their own experiments in that light.

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I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban is an autobiographical book by Malala Yousafzai, co-written with Christina Lamb. It was published on 8 October 2013, by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK and Little, Brown and Company in the US. The book details the early life of Yousafzai, her father's ownership of schools and activism, the rise and fall of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in Swat Valley and the assassination attempt made against Yousafzai, when she was aged 15, following her activism for female education. It received a positive critical reception and won awards, though it has been banned in many schools in Pakistan.

Sayeeda Warsi, writing for The Daily Telegraph, giving the book four stars out of five, wrote "Malala has turned a tragedy into something positive". Entertainment Weekly gave the book a "B+", writing "Malala's bravely eager voice can seem a little thin here, in I Am Malala, likely thanks to her co-writer, but her powerful message remains undiluted." Metro list the book as one of the "20 best non-fiction books of 2013", praising that Yousafzai's story is "one of idealism and stubborn courage"

Following the book's release, the Pakistani Taliban released a statement threatening to kill Yousafzai, and target bookshops which sell the book.

The book, however, continues to be available in leading bookstores. It remains a popular reading among educated people especially young girls. Some schools, in fact, encourage students to read this book by keeping it in their libraries. Pakistan does not have high literacy rate, and therefore, the popularity or otherwise of any literature is always subject to how the educated people have received it.

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Norbert is a Norwegian Ridgeback dragon that Hagrid had acquired as an egg from a mysterious, hooded stranger in the Hog's Head, who turned out to be Professor Quirrell. Hagrid helps the dragon hatch from the egg. Norbert becomes very dangerous and much bigger in the weeks following. Norbert bit Ron’s hand, causing him to require medical treatment due to the venom in her fangs. Harry, Ron, and Hermione finally persuade Hagrid to send the dragon to Ron’s older brother Charlie, who is studying dragons in Romania. In the Deathly Hallows, Charlie reveals to Hagrid that "Norbert" is actually female and had been renamed Norberta. Charlie adds that female Norwegian Ridgeback dragons "are more vicious..." which explained Norbert's biting and dangerous behaviour as a baby.

Hagrid has appeared in various animated and non-animated parodies of Harry Potter. He was featured in US skit comedy Saturday Night Live, portrayed by Horatio Sanz, in the same episode in which Lindsay Lohan played Hermione; Bobby Moynihan later portrayed Hagrid in 2012, when Daniel Radcliffe hosted the show. In Alistair McGowan's Big Impression show, Hagrid appeared in a sketch called "Louis Potter and the Philosopher’s Scone", in which he was portrayed by Robbie Coltrane himself. Hagrid is also parodied in Harry Potter and the Secret Chamberpot of Azerbaijan, a story released by Comic Relief in 2003, and he was played by Ronnie Corbett. In the Potter Puppet Pals parodies by Neil Cicierega, Hagrid appeared in the episode "Ron's Disease", and later in the episode "Neville's Birthday". Hagrid also appears in the parody stage production Harry Potter and the Obnoxious Voice, interacting with Draco Malfoy and a dementor. In one episode of the second series of Tracey Ullman's State of the Union, Tracey Ullman parodies Rowling as bossy and very keen on keeping her creations copyrighted, believing a hobo is impersonating Hagrid.

Hagrid makes an appearance in the theme park attraction Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, Japan and Hollywood. A new rollercoaster, Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, will open at Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure theme park on 13 June 2019, replacing the Dragon Challenge dual roller coasters. It will be themed around Hagrid and his love for magical creatures.

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Suzy Sheep is Peppa’s best friend and their favorite game is dress-up. Peppa is always a fairy princess and Suzy likes to dress up as a nurse. Peppa’s other good friends in her play group include Danny Dog, Pedro Pony, and Rebecca Rabbit.

Suzy shares a lot of interest with Peppa and the other girls. She prefers feminine games, but also enjoys playing sports and in the mud, just like the others. She loves to dress up as a nurse, and often uses the "knowledge" she learns to apply it to various situations, such as when Ms. Rabbit fell and had to rest. It’s implied that deep down she is actually caring towards people, and plans on pursuing an interest in nursing when she is older.

However, like Peppa, Suzy also has an attitude some of the time and can be as pushy or bossy as her at times. Usually using force to get what she wants, or giving Peppa grief due to her chatty behavior and then making the day difficult for her when she challenged her not to speak. But Suzy is still Peppa's best friend and often misses her when she isn't home to play with.

Suzy has also shown to be a bit air-headed or easily confused by various things, such as pronouncing "Fun Run" as "Funny Run", or asking something she mistook for something literal and making others laugh.

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Winnie-the-Pooh, collection of children’s stories by A.A. Milne, published in 1926. Milne wrote the episodic stories of Winnie-the-Pooh and its sequel, The House at Pooh Corner (1928), for his young son, Christopher Robin, whose toy animals were the basis for many of the characters and whose name was used for the young boy who appears in the tales as the benign master of the animals.

The main character, Winnie-the-Pooh (sometimes called simply Pooh or Edward Bear), is a good-natured, yellow-furred, honey-loving bear who lives in the Forest surrounding the Hundred Acre Wood (modeled after Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, England). His companions are Eeyore, a gloomy gray donkey; Piglet, a timid pig; Owl, a pontificating bird; the meddlesome Rabbit; and Kanga, an energetic kangaroo whose inquisitive baby, Roo, lives in her pouch.

The stories are simply written, to appeal to young readers, and full of comic moments as well as silly verses. However, the work also is notable for its insights into human behaviour, and Milne’s characters are endearing but also complex. E.H. Shepard’s original illustrations add to the charm of the book and helped make it a children’s classic. In The House at Pooh Corner Milne introduced another popular character, an exuberant tiger named Tigger.

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Timothy, nicknamed Tim or Timmy, is George's dog and one of the Famous Five, who she had since he was a puppy.

George found Timothy as a puppy on the moors a year before the events of Five on a Treasure Island. As he grew bigger and louder, Quentin Kirrin did not allow George to keep him at home. He given to Alf, a son of fisherman and George's friend. At the end of Five on a Treasure Island, Quentin agreed to let Timmy live with George.

Timmy is loving, loyal and intelligent. He is usually friendly, but will attack in order to protect the Famous Five if they are in danger. He understands George well and does whatever she tells him to. He appears to talk to the Five by barking. He loves chasing rabbits, such as those on Kirrin Island, and is also a good swimmer.

Timmy is described as a mongrel, "far from perfect", with a large head, pricked ears and a long tail. He is also described as having lovely eyes.

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The story is about Mr. Fox and how he outwits his farmer neighbours to steal their food from right under their noses. In 2009, it was adapted into a stop-motion animated film by Wes Anderson.

The book was adapted into a stop-motion animated film by director Wes Anderson. It was released in 2009 and features the voices of George Clooney as Mr. Fox, Meryl Streep as Mrs. Fox, Bill Murray as Badger, Robert Hurlstone as Boggis, Hugo Guinness as Bunce and Michael Gambon as Bean. The movie's plot focuses more on Mr. Fox's relationship to Mrs. Fox and his son, which is pitted against Mr. Fox's desire to steal chickens as a means of feeling like his natural self. The movie adds scenes before Mr. Fox attacks the three farmers and after their bulldozing of the hill, as well as a slightly altered ending and more background on Mr. Fox's past life as a thief of food. The Foxes' four children are replaced by Ash, a small and insecure fox who seeks his father's approval and Mr. Fox's nephew Kristofferson, who excels in athletics and is a source of jealousy for Ash.

The book was adapted into a play of the same name by David Wood and was first performed at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry in 2001. The play is licensed (in the U.K. only) through Casarotto Ramsay Ltd. for repertory performances and Samuel French Ltd. for amateur performances.

A musical adaptation of the book ran at the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton during Christmas 2016 before touring the U.K. in early 2017.

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Bagheera is a fictional character in Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories in The Jungle Book (coll. 1894) and The Second Jungle Book (coll. 1895). He is a black panther (melanistic Indian leopard) who serves as friend, protector and mentor to the "man-cub" Mowgli. The word bagheera is Hindustani for panther or leopard, although the root word bagh means tiger.

Bagheera is the wise and respectable black panther who lives in the Seoni jungle in India. His life changes when he discovers the infant man-cub, Mowgli, in a wrecked canoe and dedicates himself to ensure the safety of the young boy by putting him in the care of the wolves and watch over him until he is ready to rejoin humanity.

The Jungle Book takes a lot of creative liberties that deviate from the source material. However, Bagheera deviates the least from Kipling's works out of all the characters in the film. Like in the books, Bagheera is Mowgli's elegant, no-nonsense mentor but does not spoil Mowgli occasionally, nor is he as effeminate as his book counterpart.

Bagheera is a slender, black panther (Indian melanistic leopard). He has a gray muzzle, a pink nose, and black eyebrows. He has yellow eyes with black pupils, and a pair of numerous whiskers.

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