Boys' second book of inventions

The collection surveys notable contemporary inventions and inventors, presenting accessible accounts of discoveries and machines: the properties and uses of radium as studied by Curie, steerable balloons and Santos-Dumont's experiments, Milne's seismograph, high-temperature electrical furnaces and synthetic diamond work, solar motors, nitrogen fixation experiments, Marconi's wireless telegraphy, advances in lighthouse construction, and Hewitt's mercury-arc electrical devices. Each chapter combines descriptive narrative, technical explanation, and illustrative anecdotes to explain how these devices work, the practical problems inventors face, and the wider possibilities and hazards of new technologies, written to engage young readers with lively detail and clear exposition.