Secrets of the Universe
Secrets of the Universe by Paul Fleisher was originally published in 1987 by Atheneum, ISBN number 0689312660. In 2002 Fleisher published five new books called the Secrets of the Universe series; each has a different title and is a separate chapter from the original book. We've provided websites for each chapter with the new books; these summarize the principle explained in each chapter, and may help clarify for your student. They cannot possibly replace the context, details and experiments that the chapters give, but are provided as a starting point for those who can't get the book and will need to find this material on their own. The WiseGeek website has links for further reading. Perhaps one of our scientific list-moms with a talent for research will help fill this out with better websites.
Chapters in the original Secrets of the Universe by Paul Fleisher, and which book that chapter is now in:
Secrets of the Universe
1. What is a Natural Law? (Liquids and Gases: Principles of Fluid Mechanics; may be intro in all books)
2. Archimedes' Principle (Liquids and Gases: Principles of Fluid Mechanics)
3. Planetary Motion (Objects in Motion: Principles of Classical Mechanics)
4. Pendulums and Falling Objects: Galileo's Law of Motion (Objects in Motion - Principles of Classical Mechanics)
5. Newton's Tree Laws of Motion (Objects in Motion: Principles of Classical Mechanics)
6. The Law of Universal Gravitation (Objects in Motion: Principles of Classical Mechanics)
7. Conservation of Momentum (Objects in Motion: Principles of Classical Mechanics)
8. Optics - the Laws of Light (Waves: Principles of Light, Electricity, and Magnetism)
9. The Law of Conservation of Matter (Matter and Energy: Principles of Matter and Thermodynamics)
10. Pascal's Law - How Liquids Behave (Liquids and Gases: Principles of Fluid Mechanics)
11. Boyle's and Carles's Laws - How Gases Behave (Liquids and Gases: Principles of Fluid Mechanics)
12. Bernoulli's Principle (Liquids and Gases: Principles of Fluid Mechanics)
13. How the Elements Combine - the Law of Definate Proportions and Gay-Lussac's Law (Matter and Energy: Principles of Matter and Thermodynamics)
14. Mendeleyev's Periodic Law (Matter and Energy: Principles of Matter and Thermodynamics)
15. The first Law of Thermodynamics - Conservation of Engergy (Matter and Energy: Principles of Matter and Thermodynamics)
16. The Second Law of Thermodynamcis - Entropy (Matter and Energy: Principles of Matter and Thermodynamics)
17. Laws of Electromagnetism (Waves: Principles of Light, Electricity, and Magnetism)
18. Electric Current - Ohm's Law and Joule's Law (Waves: Principles of Light, Electricity, and Magnetism)
19. Relativity (Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: Principles of Modern Physics)
20. Quantum Mechanics (Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: Principles of Modern Physics)
21. Conservation of Mass/Energy (Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: Principles of Modern Physics)
22. The Uncertainty Principle (Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: Principles of Modern Physics)
And here are the new books, with an added mention of which chapter that used to be in the OLD book:
Liquids and Gases: Principles of Fluid Mechanics
1. Archimedes' Principle (in the original book, this was ch 2) WiseGeek
2. Pascal's Law How Liquids Behave (in the original book, this was ch 10) WiseGeek
3. Boyle's and Charles's Laws How Gases Behave (in the original book, this was ch 11) WiseGeek
4. Bernoulli's Principle (in the original book, this was ch 12) WiseGeek
Objects in Motion: Principles of Classical Mechanics
1. Planetary Motion (in the original book, this was ch 3) WiseGeek
2. Pendulums and Falling Objects (in the original book, this was ch 4) Pendulums and Gravity/Falling Objects
3. Newton's Three Laws of Motion (in the original book, this was ch 5) WiseGeek
4. The Law of Universal Gravitation (in the original book, this was ch 6) WiseGeek
5. Conservation of Momentum (in the original book, this was ch 7) WiseGeek
Waves: Principles of Light, Electricity, and Magnetism
1. Optics - The Laws of Light (in the original book, this was ch 8) Light,
Reflections,
Snell's Law,
Refraction,
Spectrum,
Infrared
2. Laws of Electromagnetism (in the original book, this was ch 17) WiseGeek
3. Electric Current - Ohm's Law and Joule's Law (in the original book, this was ch 18) Ohm,
Joule
Matter and Energy: Principles of Matter and Thermodynamics
1. The Law of Conservation of Matter (in the original book, this was ch 9) WiseGeek
2. How the Elements Combine - The Law of Definite Proportions and Gay-Lussac's Law (in the original book, this was ch 13) Definite Proportions in Chemistry,
Guy-Lussac/Electrolysis of Water
3. Mendeleyev's Periodic Law (in the original book, this was ch 14) WiseGeek
4. The First Law of Thermodynamics - Conservation of Energy (in the original book, this was ch 15) WiseGeek
5. The Second Law of Thermodynamics - Entropy (in the original book, this was ch 16) WiseGeek
Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: Principles of Modern Physics
1. Relativity (in the original book, this was ch 19) WiseGeek
2. Quantum Mechanics (in the original book, this was ch 20) WiseGeek
3. Conservation of Mass/Energy (in the original book, this was ch 21) EHow
WiseGeek
4. The Uncertainty Principle (in the original book, this was ch 22) WiseGeek
Note
The original book has gone out of print and seems to be difficult to find, although it does pop up; public libraries would be the obvious first place to look since the book isn't really that old. Please don't feel that the Advisory is asking anyone to go on a major quest for the only excellent book out there. That's not what was intended by leaving the book on the list, only that if you CAN get a copy, it's still our first choice for Year Six. If you are unable to access it, another option might be The Boy Scientist by John Bryan Lewellen, out of print, but more readily available at used book sources than Secrets of the Universe. Another option is The Sciences by Edward Holden, out of print, but online here.
Charlotte Mason herself recommended Holden's book, so even simply taking a look at it will give an idea of the kind of science text she would have used. We don't usually recommend out of print books, or very expensive books. All of these books are good, and if you can obtain them, we suggest you use them. However, we are still seeking an alternative that fits our guidelines of excellence, availability, and affordability.