Description
Have you ever wondered how salt was mined in centuries past, who was the first to make the great advancements to the modern age of astronomy, or what are the origins of simple everyday things such as mirrors, glass and paper? A Catechism of Familiar Things; Their History, and the Events Which Led to Their Discovery is a lengthy, informative and well-designed book intended for early schools teaching young Christian children and new adult converts about the most significant things, concepts, people and natural phenomena.The book is written in the form of a catechism, meaning that it offers a simple question and answer format divided into sections speaking of specific categories of things. While one chapter may be dedicated to arts and sciences, others are about natural phenomena such as rain or dew, while some outline the simple explanations of how various everyday objects were discovered or produced for the first time.Anything from history and basic geography, to science, art and poetry is described in significant detail according to the knowledge of the time. Although due to the age of the book some of the explanations included are naturally dated and inconsequential with regards to modern literature, science or philosophy, A Catechism of Familiar Things offers an invaluable historic account of the understanding of the time it was written in.The book was written anonymously and published initially in the year 1881 by a Roman Catholic book publishing company founded by Joseph Charles Benziger. The explanations and definitions included are concise and to the point, written in accordance with the Churchs accepted views (at the time) about each and every topic that is discussed.