The Copybook: Readings in history and literature

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Observation, Analogy, Experiment by Sir Humphry Davy

Sir Humphry Davy explains in simple terms what it is that leads to scientific progress.

1

Émilie’s Plan by Antoine Marie Chamans, Comte de Lavalette

The night before the Comte de Lavalette was to be executed, his wife Émilie came to visit him with a proposal that left him speechless.

2

The First Steam Whistle by Clement Edwin Stretton

After an accident at a level crossing, the bosses of the Leicester and Swannington Railway acknowledged that drivers needed more than lung power.

3

Byron Swims the Hellespont by Thomas Medwin

Byron felt compelled to set the record straight after it was alleged that he had swum the Hellespont the easy way.

4

My Long Walk to Beaver Dams by Laura Secord

A ‘slight and delicate’ Canadian woman defied twenty miles of rugged terrain in sweltering heat to warn of an impending attack by American invaders.

5

Surrey vs Hampshire from Sporting Magazine

‘Rain stopped play’ but it did not stop the ladies of Surrey and Hampshire from finishing their epic struggle at the Newington ground.

6

A Right and a Duty by Daniel Webster

The tighter the US Government’s stranglehold on dissent grew, the harder Daniel Webster fought for freedom of speech.

The Regency