The Secret of Everyday Things: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The Secret of Everyday Things, credited to Jean-Henri Fabre, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of The Secret of Everyday Things by Jean-Henri Fabre. (Translated by Florence Bicknell.) Read in English by MaryAnn Spiegel. The clearness, simpicity, and charm of the great French naturalist's style are nowhere better illustrated than in this work, which in its variety of subject-matter and apt use of entertaining anecdote rivals "The Story-Book of Science," already a favorite with his readers. Such instances of antiquated usage or superseded methods as occur in these chapters of popular science easily win our indulgence because of the literary charm and warm human quality investing all that the author has to say. -- Translator (Introductory Note).

Recording facts

• Recording title: The Secret of Everyday Things
• Author credits: Jean-Henri Fabre
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 23
• Listed recording duration: 8:53:56

Catalogue topics

• children
• science
• air
• snow
• light
• steam
• atmosphere
• calico

Track guide

1. 01 - Thread, Pins, Needles — 23:35
2. 02 - Silk, Wool, Flax and Hemp — 22:04
3. 03 - Weaving, Woolen Cloth, Moths — 21:10
4. 04 - Napery, Calico, Dyeing and Printing, Dyestuffs — 37:45
5. 05 - Heat-Conduction, Human Habitations, Clothing — 20:26
6. 06 - Ashes--Potash, Soap — 17:50
7. 07 - Fire, Matches, Wood and Charcoal — 20:29
8. 08 - Coal and Coal-Gas, Combustion, Heating — 25:31
9. 09 - Lighting, Kerosene Oil, Glass — 26:32
10. 10 - Iron, Rust, Tin-Plating, Pottery — 23:02
11. 11 - Coffee, Sugar — 21:38
12. 12 - Tea, Chocolate, Spices — 19:00
13. 13 - Salt, Olive Oil, Double Boiler — 19:22
14. 14 - Little Pests, Flies — 17:16
15. 15 - The Three States of Matter, Distillation — 16:57
16. 16 - Water, Vinegar — 21:08
17. 17 - The Grist Mill, Bread, Other Wheat Products, Strange Uses of Starch — 25:26
18. 18 - Rice, Chestnuts, Codfish — 20:19
19. 19 - Air, Impure Air — 31:48
20. 20 - Germs, The Atmosphere, Evaporation — 33:54
21. 21 - Humidity in the Atmosphere, Rain, Snow — 22:01
22. 22 - Ice, Pebbles, The Force of Steam — 21:47
23. 23 - Sound, Light — 24:56

Listen to this recording

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.