In Search of a Son

The narrative centers on a family circle disrupted by the return of a prosperous friend whose generosity promises a young girl's future and awakens memories of a lost boy. Through welcomed guests, seaside voyages, a shipboard fire, and a puzzling physical resemblance, relatives and friends pursue questions about a missing son and uncertain identity. Interwoven with the unfolding domestic and investigative episodes are clear, accessible chapters of popular physics—on air pressure, oxygen, fluids, heat, and planetary motion—that serve both to amuse and to illuminate the practical problems the characters face as the mystery moves toward resolution.