Mad Scientists' Club: The Books(madscientistsclub.com)
madscientistsclub.com
Mad Scientists' Club: The Books
http://www.madscientistsclub.com/books.html
40 comments
Heh. I loved these back in the 70's, and remember them fondly. Along with Encyclopedia Brown, many of the Three Investigators books, and all of the Great Brain stories. Never got into Tom Swift particular, but I did read the Danny Dunn novels (Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine got me interested in computers) and The Many Inventions of Alvin Fernald.
> but I did read the Danny Dunn novels (Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine got me interested in computers)
Amazing. These[1] sound exactly like something that would have been up my alley, but I'd never even heard of this series until right now. I might just have to find some of them and go back and read them now. Wonder how they hold up for reading by an adult in our times?
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Dunn
Amazing. These[1] sound exactly like something that would have been up my alley, but I'd never even heard of this series until right now. I might just have to find some of them and go back and read them now. Wonder how they hold up for reading by an adult in our times?
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Dunn
I just went back and skimmed "Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint", I think it's worth reading that one, but it would be a lot more fun to read to a kid than to read on your own (the writing level is clearly for kids).
It's archived: https://archive.org/details/dannydunnantigra0000jayw/page/n1...
It's archived: https://archive.org/details/dannydunnantigra0000jayw/page/n1...
I also enjoyed John D. Fitzgerald's (Great Brain author) semiautobiographical novel "Papa Married a Mormon".
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/564854.Papa_Married_a_Mo...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/564854.Papa_Married_a_Mo...
Tom Swift Jr. is definitely worth a look, if only for the titles you can't not read in a 1950s radio voice.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swift_Jr.#List_of_titles
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swift_Jr.#List_of_titles
We must have had very similar reading lists, although I think I subbed in Trixie Belden (an odd choice for a boy) for the Three Investigators.
> (an odd choice for a boy)
Our library had a four book limit and we could only go once a week. So I always read my sister’s books and she read mine.
Our library had a four book limit and we could only go once a week. So I always read my sister’s books and she read mine.
> although I think I subbed in Trixie Belden
I never read any of those, but that reminds me, I left off the "The Hardy Boys" and "Nancy Drew" stories from my original list. Those were also frequently read in my home as a kid. :-)
I never read any of those, but that reminds me, I left off the "The Hardy Boys" and "Nancy Drew" stories from my original list. Those were also frequently read in my home as a kid. :-)
++++++++ all of these. Wonderful books. "The Great Brain" has to be my favorite, but they're all good.
A 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.
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.
Good 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..."
Danny Dunn was great. Also, The Magical Flight to the Mushroom Planet and its first sequel. Read those to tatters. And the "Alvin" books (Alvin's Secret Code, The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald).
Then I discovered Robert Heinlein's juveniles...
Our little town's library had a checked-out-book limit of six, I think. One time I just couldn't decide, and went to the counter with a stack of ten books, prepared to make a case. Instead, the librarian just smiled and stamped them all. I think I made her day.
Then I discovered Robert Heinlein's juveniles...
Our little town's library had a checked-out-book limit of six, I think. One time I just couldn't decide, and went to the counter with a stack of ten books, prepared to make a case. Instead, the librarian just smiled and stamped them all. I think I made her day.
I loved these so much that I created my own Mad Scientist's Club with my neighbor friends which held meetings in our (very hot) shed loft during the summer.
I just finished reading some of them to my pre-teen girls, and they enjoyed them quite a bit despite the fact that very few girl characters are part of the plot. A few quotes made us chuckle ("Shut up and stop rocking the boat!" was one). We even figured out which boy was the narrator, even though he never mentions his name.
I guess it speaks to their universal appeal to kids of curious minds who like hearing of scrappy, madcap adventures attempted by smart but hair-brained individuals of their age. The books always gave me the sense of unbridled freedom to invent, explore, and maybe pull one over your knucklehead neighbor or unsuspecting parents.
I just finished reading some of them to my pre-teen girls, and they enjoyed them quite a bit despite the fact that very few girl characters are part of the plot. A few quotes made us chuckle ("Shut up and stop rocking the boat!" was one). We even figured out which boy was the narrator, even though he never mentions his name.
I guess it speaks to their universal appeal to kids of curious minds who like hearing of scrappy, madcap adventures attempted by smart but hair-brained individuals of their age. The books always gave me the sense of unbridled freedom to invent, explore, and maybe pull one over your knucklehead neighbor or unsuspecting parents.
It seems like the short stories mention the narrator's name (Freddy) one or possibly two times- it took me at least until my second read-through before it leapt out at me. This leads to a tidy resolution in The Big Kerplop! incidentally, which is one of the reasons I'd recommend reading the books in order of publication.
I am seriously considering starting a club now actually. I have a few friends who would fit right in.
These books were formative for me as a kid, I lost them to my mom's garage sale obsession years ago, but found that the author's son, Sheridan Brinley, worked with the publisher to not only release them as a compendium, but include an unpublished story in the volume as well. I bought it as soon as I found it on Amazon and have read it at least 4 times since... It's like a trip back to my childhood and candy for my brain. Still in love with these stories after all these years.
I 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...
Now if someone would re-issue the Miss Pickerel series...
Miss Pickerell!!!! You have no idea how long I’ve been trying to remember her name! I remembered it started with a P, she went to outer space, and liked pistachio ice cream. That turns out to not be enough to google her. Thank you!
Glad to be of help. I think the only one I have (yes, I kept all my SBS books) is Miss Pickerell Goes To Mars.
I think it was peppermint she liked. I read a bunch of the Miss Pickerell as a kid.
Like you I picked up the hardcover reprints.
Now I find there was a 4th Mad Scientist's book published posthumously that came and went (The Big Chunk of Ice). Off to eBay....
Now I find there was a 4th Mad Scientist's book published posthumously that came and went (The Big Chunk of Ice). Off to eBay....
As 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.
I've read these as a kid and they were some of the books I made sure I had in our house to read to my children. It seems like these would make a great TV series.
Brinley also wrote a book about creating model rockets that I read as a kid. I didn't realize he was the author of the Mad Scientist Club books until I was an adult. https://archive.org/details/RocketManualForAmateursByCapt.Be...
Brinley also wrote a book about creating model rockets that I read as a kid. I didn't realize he was the author of the Mad Scientist Club books until I was an adult. https://archive.org/details/RocketManualForAmateursByCapt.Be...
Yeah, "Rocket Manual For Amateurs", the book that inspired Homer "Rocket Boys" Hickam.
EDIT: Wow, ha ha, I just remembered that 15 or so years ago I was in a bidding war on eBay over a copy of "Rocket Manual For Amateurs". When I realized that I was bidding against Homer Hickam (I think his username was pretty obvious — like 'hhickam') I stopped bidding and let him have it.
When I just recounted the story to my wife she says, "I thought you won it and he was mad at you." That's not how I remember it.
EDIT: Wow, ha ha, I just remembered that 15 or so years ago I was in a bidding war on eBay over a copy of "Rocket Manual For Amateurs". When I realized that I was bidding against Homer Hickam (I think his username was pretty obvious — like 'hhickam') I stopped bidding and let him have it.
When I just recounted the story to my wife she says, "I thought you won it and he was mad at you." That's not how I remember it.
One can't overstate how much I loved those stories, as a child of the 80s. I loved the inventive spirit, the bonds of friendship between the club, and the evergreen YA theme of putting one over on the grownups. Thirty years ago I scored the New Adventures hardback from a school library sale when I was just the right age to appreciate them. I plowed through that one and then moved heaven and Earth to find the first book. An age later (which must have only been five or six years, but you know how times moves when you're a kid) I read The Big Kerplop! and was rather sad, because it felt like I'd reached the end of the content. I was overjoyed to learn that the final book was finally being issued in 2005- it now sits on my shelf, patiently waiting. I plan to read it just before I shuffle off this mortal coil, whenever that may be, so I can spend the rest of my life anticipating it.
I loved these books as a kid and had a great time rereading them with my then-seven-year-old. One of my favorite bits was the description of the difference between the club's two smartest members: One was adept at figuring out ways to get out of trouble, and the other was really good at thinking up fun ways to get into trouble.
Wow, these were excellent. The Strange Sea Monster of Strawberry Lake was a favorite as a kid in the 80s.
I swear to you that just the other day I was trying to find these books, but I couldn't remember the names of the characters or anything other than there was a group of young boys in a club doing some shenanigans on a lake. I was, of course, looking for "The Strange Sea Monster of Strawberry Lake (1960)". Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this here!
EDIT: I also remembered the Old Cannon one. Awesome stuff. I'm going to re-read them!
EDIT: I also remembered the Old Cannon one. Awesome stuff. I'm going to re-read them!
Tangentially, there is a modern series in the same spirit called Mad Scientist Academy that are quite fun.
https://www.matthewmcelligott.com/newwebsite/books/msa/
https://www.matthewmcelligott.com/newwebsite/books/msa/
My friends and I had a Mad Scientists Club (inspired by the books) that we ran out of my basement and we cooked up many schemes there.
Eventually we tried to get free gear from various electronics companies by writing to them as Moraine Scientific Corp and requesting samples.
Eventually we tried to get free gear from various electronics companies by writing to them as Moraine Scientific Corp and requesting samples.
Thank 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.
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.
A 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)
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.
Thank you! I've looked for these books on and off over the years but couldn't remember any titles, just some of the plots. Loved these as a boy in the late 70s!
Loved these as a kid growing up in the 80's, read the collections many times. They were a little bit dated, but in a way that felt magical and nostalgic.
I loved those books!
I'm not sure how I've missed the two extra books were released. Maybe I read them on the Kindle. I've followed it pretty religiously getting books at second hand shops to gift when I could.
Books - https://booko.us/search?query_type=1&q=Bertrand+R.+Brinley
"No Coins, Please" if you liked "The Great Brian" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Coins,_Please
A common theme of kids being independent to adults and doing original stuff and not having to be being detectives.
Books - https://booko.us/search?query_type=1&q=Bertrand+R.+Brinley
"No Coins, Please" if you liked "The Great Brian" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Coins,_Please
A common theme of kids being independent to adults and doing original stuff and not having to be being detectives.
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.