My Science School

Dame agatha mary clarissa christie, lady mallowan, dbe (née miller; 15 september 1890 – 12 january 1976) was an english writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives hercule poirot and miss marple.

A crime, a host of suspects, twists and turns, and an unexpected ending, all make this genre a delight for the reader. It's a genre made popular by British author Agatha Christie

Let me explain how I got introduced to mystery novels, a popular genre.

Some of us in our neighbourhood usually visit each other's homes whenever we are free. The other day when I went to one of my friends place, he was in his 'home' library, which he calls the mini library. There was a good collection of books, and I ran my eyes over them devouringly and pulled out a book at random. The cover page had an attractive design - a huge mansion surrounded by water and had the usual details such as the name of the author and the title - Agatha Christie, "And Then There Were None" - and what caught my attention was - The Queen of Mystery'.

I asked my friend, "Why is the author called The Queen of Mystery?" He thought for a while, but unable to respond, called out his sister. When she came in, I repeated the question.

She started off mentioning that anyone interested in mystery novels would have certainly read at least one of hers as Agatha Christie had written 66 of them. All her novels had the structure of a murder / crime being committed and a detective investigating and unravelling the truth at the end. Although the author was not the one who invented this genre, no one had written as much as she had and popularised it, and for that reason she was described as The Queen of Mystery'. It was a convincing answer to me.

An important fact about Agatha Christie, she added, was that she was the best-selling author as her books sold over a billion copies in English and another billion in translation; this was next only to the sale of The Bible, a rare feat, in fact.

She also told us that she liked the mystery novels very much, which, in a way, intrigued me. So, I asked her why she liked them and how they were different from other types of novels.

My friend's sister gave an interesting response to my question. She elaborated that all mystery novels narrate a gripping story about a crime and as readers, we all get involved in the investigation, but till the end, we wouldn't be able to identify the criminal, though we would be led to suspect many of the characters. It was these elements of mystery or the suspense that differentiated them from other kinds of novels, which mostly narrate straightforward stories. "The unexpected twists and turns in the mystery novels further add to our delight," she added.

She went on to tell us that she had basically been a slow reader but after starting on the mystery novels she has gained speed. Even the textbooks, she could read faster and understand them better now. When she stopped, I pointed out to her that the title was rather unusual, and enquired why the novelist had given such a title.

The title was, in fact, an adaptation from the nursery rhyme "Ten Little Soldier Boys Went Out to Dine"; and it was printed at the beginning of the book. She explained, "You would realise as you read the novel that the writer had drawn heavily from the rhyme."

She also listed other famous mystery novelists, namely, Stephen King, John Grisham, Dan Brown, and so on, who are widely read all over the world. Finally, she prodded us to read this novel as this has been one of the top-selling novels and made into a movie. She also suggested that we watch the movie along with her.

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Enid Blyton was such a prolific writer that her work provided enough material for the hungriest reader. She has authored over 700 books, starting from 1922 when she was about 25 years old. She did not put down her pen till her death in 1968 and some of her work has even been published posthumously.

Although wildly popular, her works have had a large share of criticism as well. Some of her critics have called her books racist, gender insensitive and stereotyped.

Be that as it may, she is a household name in many parts of the world, particularly in countries that were once colonised by the British.

Her ideas of what made for a good and upstanding child in faraway England is what I and many others like me followed.

Growing appetite

The appetite for books that Blyton could produce was immense. Her short stories were a great starting point. They introduced us to pixies and fairies. We could then progress to the Secret Seven series, which served as chapter books that were short enough to complete in a week. For the ardent mystery fan, there were many other series that waited such as The Famous Five, The Secret series, The Adventure series and The Five Find-Outers.

Because Blyton wrote so many books, there were those who said she had a team of "ghost-writers" who would pen the novels under her name. But she always denied the charge and continued producing more.

The stories were comforting in nature, in an all's well that end's well fashion. Because of the fairly simple plots and the formulaic style of her books, she may not have been considered a literary success. However, she remains among the best-selling children's authors even today. Her work has been translated into 90 languages and her books have sold over 600 million copies.

Perhaps it is that feeling of comfort-right from the large, wholesome meals that her characters ate to the carefree freedom that they enjoyed that leaves her readers asking for more.

Did you know?

There is an Enid Blyton Society that was founded in 1995. The aim of the Society is to provide a focal point for collectors and enthusiasts of Enid Blyton through its magazine The Enid Blyton Society Journal, issued three times a year, organise its annual Enid Blyton Day, an event which attracts in excess of a hundred members, and run its website (enidblytonsociety.co.uk)

Hachette UK has the world rights to the literary estate of Enid Blyton, excluding her best known series, Noddy. Blyton's work is overseen by Hachette's Hodder children's imprint.

Blyton's classic children's book The Faraway Tree' is being rewritten to include lessons about gender sensitivity. Writer Jacqueline Wilson will be writing a new version of the classic adventure story to update it for the 21st century.

An Enid Blyton fan has actually written a book with 42 recipes based on the books. Jolly Good Food' is authored by Allegra McEvedy with illustrations by Mark Beech.

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On August 8, 2007, space shuttle Endeavour’s STS-118 mission was successfully launched. Among the crew members was Barbara Morgan, the first teacher to travel into space. Barbara Morgan, in full Barbara Radding Morgan, (born Nov. 28, 1951, Fresno, Calif., U.S.), American teacher and astronaut, the first teacher to travel into space. Morgan earned a B.A. in human biology from Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., in 1973.

Among the many new things during the COVID-19 pandemic was the school classroom, or the lack of it. During the height of the pandemic in the last two years, students were often seen attending virtual classrooms from homes with the teachers conducting the classes from their houses.

A group of students in the U.S. experienced something similar 15 years ago. Only that their teacher, Barbara Morgan wasn't teaching virtually from the comfort of her home. Morgan was the first teacher to travel into space and she did do some teaching while in space!

Born in November 1951 in Fresno, California, Morgan obtained a B.A. in human biology from Stanford University in 1973. Having received her teaching credentials by the following year, she began her teaching career in 1974 in Arlee, Montana, teaching remedial reading and maths.

She taught remedial reading, maths, and second grade in McCall, Idaho from 1975-78, before heading to Quito in Ecuador to teach English and science to third graders for a year. Following her return to the U.S., she returned to McCall, Idaho, where she taught second through fourth grades at McCall-Donnelly Elementary School until 1998.

Teacher in Space

Morgan's tryst with space began in July 1985 when she was selected as the backup candidate for NASA's Teacher in Space programme. As the backup to American teacher Christa McAuliffe, Morgan spent the time from September 1985 to January 1986 attending various training sessions at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. After McAuliffe and the rest of the crew died in the 1986 Challenger disaster, Morgan replaced McAuliffe as the Teacher in Space designee and worked with NASA's education division.

Morgan reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1998 after being selected by NASA as a mission specialist and NASA's first educator astronaut. Even though Morgan didn't participate in the Educator Astronaut Project, the successor to the Teacher in Space programme, NASA gave her the honour of being its first educator astronaut.

Following two years of training and evaluation, Morgan was assigned technical duties. She worked in mission control as a communicator with in-orbit crews and also served with the robotics branch of the astronaut office.

Further delay

Even though she was assigned as a mission specialist to the crew of STS-118 in 2002 and was expected to fly the next year, it was delayed for a number of years following the 2003 Columbia disaster. It was on August 8, 2007 that Morgan finally flew into space on the space shuttle Endeavour on STS-118.

The STS-118 was primarily an assembly-and-repair trip to the International Space Station (ISS). The crew were successfully able to add a truss segment, a new gyroscope, and external spare parts platform to the ISS. Morgan served as loadmaster, shuttle and station robotic arm operator, and also provided support during the spacewalks. All this, in addition to being an educator.

Answers from space

For the first time in human history, school children enjoyed lessons from space, conducted by Morgan. Apart from speaking to the students while in space, she also fielded questions. For one question from a student on how fast a baseball will go in space, she even had another astronaut Clay Anderson throw the ball slowly before floating over to catch it himself. While that opened up the opportunity of playing ball with yourself while in space, she also informed the student that the ball can be thrown fast, but it is avoided in order to not cause any damage to the craft and the equipment on board.

Following the first lessons from space, the Endeavour returned to Earth on August 21 after travelling 5.3 million miles in space. Having carried 5,000 pounds of equipment and supplies to the ISS, it returned with 4,000 pounds worth of scientific materials and used equipment.

As for Morgan, she retired from NASA in 2008 to become the distinguished educator in residence at Boise State University. A post created exclusively for her, it entailed a dual appointment to the colleges of engineering and education. As someone who strongly believes that teachers are learners, she continues to teach and learn, be it from space, or here on Earth.

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Helen Beatrix Potter (28 July 1866 – 22 December 1943) was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist.This English author who is known for her creations such as Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny, Jeremy Fisher, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, Jemima Puddle-Duck, and other animal characters wrote for the pure love of children and her works continue to enchant them.

 The British authors characters like to get into mischief and adventure.

Think of rabbits and for children who grew up on literature, it is always the images of the White Rabbit, Velveteen Rabbit and Peter Rabbit that pop up. For generations, the stories of naughty animals and their antics have delighted children and made for good bedtime stories.

Today, we introduce you to the wondrous world of children's book writer Beatrix Potter who is loved for her eclectic set of children's books featuring anthropomorphic animals. The adventures of Peter Rabbit and his friends are known to most children.

If you are new to the writer and her world of animals, here is a glimpse...

Britain's beloved author Helen Beatrix Potter was born on July 28, 1866 in Bolton Gardens, Kensington in London. She is noted for the fascinating tales of animals in human clothing. They conjure up mischief and indulge in adventures. Every story ends with a moral message, with the protagonists facing the consequence of their actions.

It all started with The Tale of Peter Rabbit One of the best-selling children's books of all time. The Tale of Peter Rabbit was in fact bom out of a letter. "A letter?" you may ask.

It began as a letter to Potters governess son. Knowing that her governess's son Noel was sick, Potter wrote a letter that carried the story of Peter Rabbit and his mischief. The story illustrated by her was sent over to Noel, with the hope that it would perk up his mood. My dear Noel," she wrote. "I don't know what to write to you, so I shall tell you a story about four little rabbits whose names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter" Little did Potter know that she would be delighting children for generations with her stories.

Instant hit

The first edition of The Tale of Peter Rabbit was self-published by Potter in 1901. The book carried the story just like she had written to Noel and had 42 black-and-white illustrations. It was commercially published in 1902 by Frederick Warne & Co., with Potter's coloured illustrations. The book turned out to be an instant hit among children.

Soon other creations namely The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin' and The Tailor of Gloucester were published. These have entertained children for generations and continue to do so.

Potter who was also keen on the natural world turned to farming in her later years and was also into breeding Herdwick sheep. Always fascinated by the natural world around her, Potter was also into scientific illustration.

She also wrote a scientific paper on the germination of fungus spores titled "On the Germination of the Spores of Agaricineae’.

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