Mad Scientists' Club: The Books
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Mad Scientists' Club: The Books
1–10 of 41 posts
Re: Mad Scientists' Club: The Books
#2I loved those books!
Re: Mad Scientists' Club: The Books
#3A favorite from my childhood --- I'm very glad that they are back in print (prices were getting ridiculous for a while).
The short stories are better, and to my mind, the later novels can be skipped (unless one is a completionist)
Re: Mad Scientists' Club: The Books
#4Thank you for posting this and giving me an injection of nostalgia. :)
I loved these books as a kid, and have probably not thought about them in 40 years. Unfortunately, my own daughter is probably too old to enjoy them the same way I did.
Re: Mad Scientists' Club: The Books
#5A wonderful series written by a real life engineer. I read them as a kid and read them to my children. (As did several of my friends.)
Some of the details are a bit dated. The stories are meant to be contemporary, but Bertrand Brinley wrote them in the 1960s. He also set them in a small town which was already a bit dated by then.
The tech is also from a different era. These boys were ham radio users which gave them a few advantages since most of the world didn't use the radios or the cell phones that weren't invented yet. Computers and the Internet hadn't been invented yet but you can tell from reading that the club members would be the first to adopt tech like Linux.
The stories are generally optimistic about the powers of technology, but less than optimistic about the adults who are often clueless or prankworthy. That's a common theme in YA fiction, I suppose. Someone needs to be the butt of the jokes or a story doesn't work.
Highly recommended.
Re: Mad Scientists' Club: The Books
#6A favorite from my childhood --- I'm very glad that they are back in print (prices were getting ridiculous for a while). The short stories are better, and to my mind, the later novels can be skipped (unless one is a completionist)
I thought _The Big Kerplop_ was pretty good but _The Big Chunk of Ice_ was too clever by far. Skip that one if you can.
Re: Mad Scientists' Club: The Books
#7As someone born in 2004, these books made Ham Radio seem so fun and engaging to me, and definitely were a part of me getting my license. I hope that my bodged together projects would have made the gang proud. I would love to see a book series like this updated with modern technology, keeping the same jury-rigged aesthetic.
Re: Mad Scientists' Club: The Books
#8I read these as a child in the 60's. When Purple House Press re-issued them, I snapped them up. They've also re-issued some other favorites, like the Alvin Fernald series. I like to buy direct from them, so they don't have to share the money with amazon.
Now if someone would re-issue the Miss Pickerel series...
Re: Mad Scientists' Club: The Books
#9Good stuff; this and the Danny Dunn series are fond childhood memories. I still remember this joke from the hot air balloon race decades later: "...Harmon Muldoon called his [hot air balloon] the 'Green Onion,' and it looked like one. 'I hope it springs a leek,' quipped Dinky Poore..."
Re: Mad Scientists' Club: The Books
#10I loved these books as a kid back in the 80's. I'm sure they played a key role in shaping my interests and worldview. These, along with the "Encyclopedia Brown" books, the "The Three Investigators" series, the "Tom Swift Jr" series, and "The Great Brain", plus the original Doyle canon of Sherlock Holmes stories, were constant companions in my youth. Oh, and those "Choose Your Own Adventure" books. Those were great.
Every year the local Barnes & Noble does a Christmas book drive thing to provide books for under-privileged children in the area. I usually chip in at least a few titles, and if I could actually find any of those on the shelf (aside from Sherlock Holmes), I'd probably get some of them, so some young kids today could experience the same thrill.