David Keith

The whole situation was most provoking and mysterious; the sudden radical change in the iodine shipments, the truculent, insulting letters. Further negotiations by mail were hopeless--someone had to go to France, to the agent in Paris and to the Brittany coast, where the seaweed was gathered and burned. It would be a delicate mission, of course, one that required tact and a certain amount of courage, but no one suspected it of being a dangerous one. . . . If you are looking for the conventional mystery pattern which starts off with a bizarre crime to be followed by a deluge of foxy questions, another crime or so and finally the round-up of the "killer," you had better pass this one by. It's a curious story. Disarming at first, it will lead the reader to believe that he is a pretty clever fellow, only to trip him up neatly just as he is about to reach an unshakable conclusion. Written with a smoothness and subtlety, and a picturesqueness of detail that puts it way ahead of the mystery story class, the story grows on the reader, gathering in intensity and suspense until the wildly scattered events converge to a climax that is as utterly surprising as it is dramatic and original. A Matter of Iodine was the Red Badge Prize Mystery for 1940. Additional mysteries available from CoachwhipBooks.com.

A leading scientist argues that we must consider deploying climate engineering technology to slow the pace of global warming. Climate engineering—which could slow the pace of global warming by injecting reflective particles into the upper atmosphere—has emerged in recent years as an extremely controversial technology. And for good reason: it carries unknown risks and it may undermine commitments to conserving energy. Some critics also view it as an immoral human breach of the natural world. The latter objection, David Keith argues in A Scientist's Case for Climate Engineering, is groundless; we have been using technology to alter our environment for years. But he agrees that there are large issues at stake. A leading scientist long concerned about climate change, Keith offers no naïve proposal for an easy fix to what is perhaps the most challenging question of our time; climate engineering is no silver bullet. But he argues that after decades during which very little progress has been made in reducing carbon emissions we must put this technology on the table and consider it responsibly. That doesn't mean we will deploy it, and it doesn't mean that we can abandon efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But we must understand fully what research needs to be done and how the technology might be designed and used. This book provides a clear and accessible overview of what the costs and risks might be, and how climate engineering might fit into a larger program for managing climate change.

Four boys set out to stop a band of criminals who are destroying Indian graves in the area. In the process, they learn more than they intended to learn and are helped by a very unusual ally.