View source for A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar

{{Infobox Book 
  | name           =  A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar
  | author         =  [[Ebenezer Cobham Brewer]]
  | image          =  [[File:Guide to Science title page.jpg|200px]]
  | image_caption  =  Title page from the 38th edition published in 1880
  | country        =  [[United Kingdom]]
  | language       =  [[English language|English]]
  | subject        =  Science education
  | publisher      =  [[Jarrolds|Jarrold and Sons]]
  | release_date   =  1840-47? (first&nbsp;edition)
}}
'''''A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar''''', also known as '''''The Guide to Science''''' or '''''Brewer's Guide to Science''''', is a book by [[Ebenezer Cobham Brewer]] presenting explanations for common phenomena.<ref name="1880 ed preface" /> Although presented as an accurate science text,<ref name="1880 ed preface" /> the book actually promotes religious ideas, including [[Teleological argument|divine design]].<ref name="BLightman" />

First published in the [[United Kingdom]] around 1840, the book was very popular<ref name="WAndrews" /> with 47 editions being printed by 1905 in English alone,<ref name="booklist" /> and this popularity enabled Brewer to gather material for his ''[[Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable|Dictionary of Phrase and Fable]]'' which remains a classic reference work.<ref name="times" />

==Content==
[[File:Guide to Science contents 1.jpg|thumb|left|Page 1 of 2 of the contents of the 38th edition]]
[[File:Guide to Science contents 2.jpg|thumb|left|Page 2 of 2 of the contents of the 38th edition]]
The object of ''The Guide to Science'' was to present answers to over 2000 questions about common phenomena.<ref name="1880 ed preface" /> There are questions dealing with the man-made objects such as candles, stoves and chimneys as well as answers seeking to explain [[Natural phenomenon|natural phenomena]] such as [[thunder]] and [[lightning]] (including a mention of [[ball lightning]]<ref>{{Harvnb|Brewer|1880|p=11}}</ref>), [[cloud]]s, [[dew]] and [[rainbow]]s. Brewer intended that his book should be intelligible to a child, since children might often ask the questions he was seeking to answer, but without being so foolish as to offend the scientific.<ref name="1880 ed preface" />

The book is separated into two or three parts, depending upon the edition, each part having several chapters. ''Part one'' deals with questions relating to [[heat]] such as the sources of heat and its effects on humans and animals, while ''Part two'' deals with questions relating to [[Earth's atmosphere|air]], explaining why metal rusts in air, the operation of barometers and the transmission of sound. A ''Miscellaneous'' section<ref group="Notes">The ''Miscellaneous'' section is included as a third part in the 1864 US edition, but is presented as a further chapter of the second part in the 1880 edition.</ref> deals with several more nebulous questions, including questions about sleep and dreaming. Within each part, the different chapters break the questions and answers up into subject areas organised thematically.

==History==
''The Guide to Science'' had its origin in a habit of Brewer's of making and saving notes from his reading.<ref name="notthis">{{Cite web
 |url=http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/rodgers1908/edwinstowe1.htm
 |title=Nottinghamshire History: Edwinstowe
 |accessdate=1 April 2007}}</ref><ref name="Ferguson">{{Harvnb|Ferguson|1999}}</ref> He set his notes out in a [[FAQ|question-and-answer]] or [[catechism]]<ref>{{Harvnb|Lightman|2007|p=67}}</ref> style, leaving a space for answers when they were obtained.<ref name="notthis" /> Brewer bound his book into a volume and, disregarding advice from one man of science to burn it,<ref name="notthis" /> sought to have it [[publishing|published]]. His initial offer to [[Thomas Jarrold]] to sell the [[copyright]] for 50 [[Pound sterling|pounds]] was rejected.<ref name="WAndrews">{{Harvnb|Andrews|2008|pp=57–58}}</ref><ref name="notthis" /> Instead, Jarrold agreed to publish the book under a [[profit sharing]] arrangement.<ref name="WAndrews" /><ref name="notthis" /> The ultimate success of the book meant that this arrangement proved to be very profitable for both Brewer and Jarrold<ref name="notthis" /> with Jarrold later refusing to sell his share back to Brewer even when offered 4000 pounds.<ref name="WAndrews" />
{{clearright}}
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" border="1" align="right" 
!colspan="3" | Publication history
|-
!Edition !!Date !! Print size<ref name="Lightman66" />
|-
|1
|1840-1847?<ref name="booklist" /><ref name="Lightman66" />
|2000
|-
|2
|1848<ref name="Lightman66" /><ref name="punch" />
|3000
|-
|3
|January 1849<ref name="Lightman66" />
|5000
|-
|4
|July 1849<ref name="Lightman66" />
|7000
|-
|5
|1850<ref name="Lightman66" />
|8000
|-
|11
|1857?<ref name="opie">{{Cite web
 |url=http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/rarebooks/opie/opie-f.htm
 |title=Bodleian Library: Opie Collection of children's literature, Section F
 |accessdate=1 April 2007}}</ref>
|8000
|-
|12
|1858<ref name="Lightman66" />
|8000
|-
|13
|1859<ref name="Lightman66" />
|4000
|-
|16
|1862<ref>According to an advert on page 94 of {{Citation
 | year=1862
 | title=The new home; or, Wedded life, its duties, cares and pleasures
 | edition=
 | isbn=
 | url=http://books.google.com/?id=O0sDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA94&dq=brewer%27s+guide+to+science
 | accessdate=2 July 2009
 | author1=Home, New
}}</ref>
|4000
|-
|22
|1866<ref name="opie" />
|4000
|-
|32
|1874<ref name="Lightman66" />
|4000
|-
|38
|1880<ref>[[:File:Guide to Science title page.jpg]]</ref>
|
|-
|44
|1892<ref name="Lightman66" />
|
|-
|47
|1905<ref name="booklist" />
|
|-
|}
The exact date of the book's first publication is uncertain.<ref name="Ferguson" /> Brewer believed it was 1840<ref name="booklist">{{Harvnb|Evans|1981|loc=Chronological list of books, p. xiii}}</ref> but other sources suggest 1841<ref name="booklist" /> or as late as 1847.<ref name="Lightman66">{{Harvnb|Lightman|2007|p=66}}</ref> A second edition of the book was published in 1848<ref name="Lightman66" /><ref name="punch">{{Cite web
 |url=http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/luceneweb/hri3/display.jsp?mode=sciper&file=PU1-19.html&reveal=issue_PU1-19-475&section=PU1-19-9-4&hil=#PU1-19-9-4
 |title=Science in the 19th Century Peridical, Punch's ''Guide to the Science of Things Familiar''
 |accessdate=1 April 2007}}</ref> and two more in 1849.<ref name="Lightman66" /> A total of 47 editions were published with the 47th edition appearing in 1905.<ref name="booklist" /> The print runs were among the highest of any scientific book published in the second half of the 19th century,<ref name="Lightman66" /> and Brewer said the success of the book was almost unparalleled at the time.<ref name="1880 ed preface">{{Harvnb|Brewer|1880|loc=Preface}}</ref> Several translations of the book were made including a [[Spanish language|Spanish]] translation in 1858<ref>{{Cite web
 |url=http://ciencianet.com/brewer.html
 |title=La clave de Las Ciencias. Manual para el conocimiento de los fenómenos comunes de la naturaleza
 |publisher=CienciaNet.com
 |accessdate=2 July 2009}}</ref> and two [[French language|French]] translations.<ref name="Nordic">{{Cite web
  | url = http://runeberg.org/authors/brewer.html
  | title = Nordic Authors / Ebenezer Cobham Brewer
  | accessdate = 1 April 2007}}</ref> The French translations were themselves translated into [[Swedish language|Swedish]] in 1858<ref name="Nordic" /> and 1890<ref>{{Cite web
 |url=http://runeberg.org/huru/0001.html
 |title=Hvarför? och Huru? Nyckel till naturvetenskaperna
 |publisher=[[Project Runeberg]]
 |accessdate=2 July 2009}}</ref> and into [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] in 1900.<ref>{{Cite web
 |url=http://ciencianet.com/brewer_moigno.html
 |title=A chave da Sciencia ou a explicaçao dos principales phenomenos da natureza
 |publisher=CienciaNet.com
 |accessdate=2 July 2009}}</ref>

An edited version of the book by Robert Evans Peterson was published in the [[United States]] in 1851 as ''Familiar Science; or, the Scientific Explanation of Common Things'',<ref>{{Harvnb|Peterson|1951}}</ref> with a revised edition following in 1863.<ref>{{Harvnb|Peterson|1963}}</ref> These versions were edited and rearranged in order to make them more suitable for American pupils<ref>{{Harvnb|Peterson|1963|p=iii}}</ref> and were used as a text-book by schools in [[Pennsylvania]] and [[Brooklyn]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Peterson|1963|p=ii}}</ref> Brewer wrote to Peterson expressing his satisfaction at the rearrangement<ref>{{Harvnb|Peterson|1963|p=vi}}</ref> but nevertheless prepared a revised edition of his own which was published in the US in 1864.<ref name="US ed title">{{Harvnb|Brewer|1864|loc=Title Page}}</ref> This edition was digitised and republished by the [[University of Michigan Library]] in 2005 following a grant from the [[Andrew W. Mellon Foundation]] as part of ''[[Making of America]] IV: the American voice, 1850-1877''.<ref>{{Cite web
  | url = http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;idno=AJN0728
  | title = Making of America Books: A guide to the scientific knowledge of things familiar. By Rev. Dr. Brewer 
  | accessdate = 30 June 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web
  | url = http://mirlyn.lib.umich.edu/F/?func=direct&doc_number=003537407&local_base=MIU01_PUB
  | title = Mirlyn - Ann Arbor and Flint: A guide to the scientific knowledge of things familiar
  | accessdate = 30 June 2009}}</ref>

==Religious perspectives==
Brewer said that he consulted "the most approved modern authors" and submitted additions to "the revision of gentlemen of acknowledged reputation for scientific attainments".<ref name="1880 ed preface" /><ref name="BLightman">{{Harvnb|Lightman|2007|pp=64–68}}</ref> Nevertheless, religious rather than scientific answers to certain questions are prevalent in the book, particularly answers inferring [[Teleological argument|divine design]].<ref name="BLightman" /> For example, although modern theories of [[ice]] formation show that most of its unusual properties result from the [[hydrogen bond]] between neighbouring water molecules,<ref name="MCavelleri">{{Citation
 |last=Cavelleri
 |first=Matteo
 |year=2004
 |title=Local Structure of Hydrogen-Bonded Liquids
 |place=[[Stockholm]]
 |page=8 (footnote)
 |url=http://www.math.nuk.edu.tw/jinnliu/papers/Cavalleri-Thesis-Water.pdf
}}</ref> Brewer suggested that the reason ice is lighter than water, expanding as it freezes, is because it has been "wisely ordained by God that water shall be an exception to a very general rule".<ref name="MCavelleri" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Brewer|1880|p=369}}</ref> 

==Reception and legacy==
A review of the second edition of ''The Guide to Science'' was published by [[Punch (magazine)|''Punch'']] magazine in 1850.<ref name="punch" /> The book was seen to be a "very useful little work". However, in typical ''Punch'' [[satire|satirical]] style, the reviewer disagreed with one answer that we "feel a desire for activity in cold weather" due to "fanning combustion in the blood" by instead insisting that we feel a desire "to sit cosily over a fire in cold weather".

The success of ''The Guide to Science'' convinced Brewer, who was ordained as a [[deacon]] and later as a [[priest]],<ref name="BLightman" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Evans|1981|loc=Introduction, p. vii}}</ref> that his readers still accepted religious explanations rather than [[Evolutionary biology|evolutionary theory]].<ref name="BLightman" /> Following the publication of ''[[On the Origin of Species]]'' in 1859, Brewer wrote ''Theology in Science; or The Testimony of Science to the Wisdom and Goodness of God'' (published in 1860) in order to demonstrate that evolution had not destroyed theological tradition and to continue ''The Guide to Science'''s promotion of [[natural theology]].<ref name="BLightman" /> The book's popularity also resulted in Brewer being sent "a large number of questions on all imaginary matters".<ref name="Ferguson" /><ref name="Evansx">{{Harvnb|Evans|1981|loc=Introduction, p. x}}</ref> These questions and their answers became the nucleus of ''[[Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable]]'', first published in 1870.<ref name="Ferguson" /><ref name="Evansx" /> This latter book has long outlived all of Brewer's other publications<ref>{{Harvnb|Evans|1981|loc=Editor's Preface, p. v}}</ref> and remains a classic reference work.<ref name="times" >Comment by the [[Times Educational Supplement]] noted on the 1981 revised edition of [[Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable]] {{Harv|Evans|1981}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|group="Notes"}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
*{{Citation
 | last=Andrews
 | first=William
 | authorlink=
 | year=2008
 | title=Literary Byways
 | edition=
 | isbn=0554528045
 | url=http://books.google.com/?id=_HLtMApa3s0C
 | accessdate=22 June 2009
 | publisher=BiblioBazaar, LLC
}}
*{{Citation
 | last=Brewer
 | first=Ebenezer Cobham
 | authorlink=Ebenezer Cobham Brewer
 | year=1864
 | title=A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar
 | edition=US
 | isbn=1425556485
 | url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/b/bib/bibperm?q1=AJN0728
 | accessdate=1 April 2007
}}
*{{Citation
 | last=Brewer
 | first=Ebenezer Cobham
 | authorlink=Ebenezer Cobham Brewer
 | year=1880
 | title=A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar
 | edition=38th
}}
*{{Citation
 | last=Evans
 | first=Ivor J.
 | year=1981
 | title=[[Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable]]
 | edition=New and revised
 | isbn=0-304-31589-3
}}
*{{Citation
 | last=Ferguson
 | first=Chris D.
 | authorlink=
 | year=1999
 | title=From Past-Present to Future-Perfect: A Tribute to Charles A. Bunge and the Challenges of Contemporary Reference Service
 | edition=
 | isbn=0789007673
 | url=http://books.google.com/?id=9jiZh7h9wYsC&pg=PA80
 | accessdate=1 July 2009
 | page=80
 | publisher=Routledge
}}
*{{Citation
 | last=Lightman
 | first=Bernard V.
 | authorlink=
 | year=2007
 | title=Victorian popularizers of science 
 | edition=
 | isbn=0226481182
 | url=http://books.google.com/?id=ady3NSvPi_8C
 | accessdate=22 June 2009
 | publisher=University of Chicago Press
}}
*{{Citation
 | last=Peterson
 | first=Robert Evans
 | authorlink=
 | year=1951
 | title=Familiar Science; or, the Scientific Explanation of Common Things
 | edition=
 | isbn=
 | url=http://books.google.com/?id=6YXQGQAACAAJ
 | accessdate=1 July 2009
 | publisher=Robert E. Peterson & co.
}}
*{{Citation
 | last=Peterson
 | first=Robert Evans
 | authorlink=
 | year=1963
 | title=Familiar Science; or, the Scientific Explanation of Common Things
 | edition=revised
 | isbn=
 | url=http://books.google.com/?id=w0kdcq9c_hcC
 | accessdate=1 July 2009
}}

==External links==
*[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=VI0DAAAAQAAJ Sound and Its Phenomena By Ebenezer Cobham Brewer], written following success of the Guide
*[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ePAYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA454&dq=brewer%27s+guide+to+science&lr=&as_brr=3 Evenings at home, or, The juvenile budget opened By John Aikin], pages 453-454 (one of many available copies of an advert with accompanying reviews)
*[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=G5kDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA34&dq=brewer%27s+guide+to+science&lr=&as_brr=3 A Handy-book of the Law of Copyright By Frederick Patey Chappell, John Shoard], page 34-35
*Sources expressing dissatification with cramming facts
**[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=gzMIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA812&dq=brewer%27s+guide+to+science&lr=&as_brr=3 Report of the commissioners By Schools inquiry commission, Great Britain], page 812
**[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nfCyeSplXRAC&pg=PA52&dq=brewer%27s+guide+to+science&lr=&as_brr=3 The governess By Trev Lynn Broughton, Ruth Symes], page 52
*[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=TpEUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA327&dq=brewer%27s+guide+to+science&lr=&as_brr=3 The Missionary herald By American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions], page 327
*[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=FzMc2Nw05kAC&pg=PA142&dq=brewer%27s+guide+to+science&lr=&as_brr=3 Last Laughs By Regina Barreca], page 142, quoting ''A London Family 1870-1900: A Trilogy'' by Mary Vivian Hughes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar}}
[[Category:Reference works in the public domain]]
[[Category:Encyclopedias on science and mathematics]]
[[Category:Science books]]
[[Category:1838 books]]
[[Category:2Fix]]