Meekins: 209 books

Eclipses have amazed and terrified people for thousands of years. The sky grows dark. Daytime animals go to sleep and nocturnal animals wake up. Roosters crow and cows come in for milking. The sun is slowly covered by some mysterious celestial object. Sometimes it is blocked out completely. What had...

In the 1920s, the first passenger airplanes began to fly over the Peruvian mountains. Passengers looking out their windows said they could see lines on the Nazca plateau below. The lines looked like runways where airplanes could land. They could also see animals and other objects. There are birds,...

Circling the heavens is a belt of rock and dust. Lying between Mars and Jupiter and orbiting our sun, The Main Asteroid Belt was once thought to be the remnants of an exploded planet or the beginnings of a planet that never formed. How much do you know about asteroids? Can you answer these questions: Where...

McMurdo Dry Valleys, in Antarctica, is one of the world’s cruelest deserts. You may think that a desert is a hot, dry place, full of sand. Science defines a desert as a place that has less than 10 inches (254 millimetres) of rainfall per year. Antarctica has none. Even if the snow that falls on...

Comets often streak across the night sky. They are fascinating flashes of light, but how much do we really know about them? Here are some things that scientists do know. Find out: What the name comet means. How comets are named. When the earliest comets were recorded. How scientists predict when a...

Our eyes are round objects that sit at the halfway point of our head. They are about one inch (25 mm) in diameter and come in a variety of colors. They allow us to see all the wonders of the world and beyond. We still don’t understand exactly how they work in transforming light into color and objects,...

It was once thought that our solar system ended at Saturn. Then the first telescopes revealed Uranus and Neptune. Differences in the calculations of the gravity of these giants set off another search and Pluto was discovered. Pluto was then thought to be the last planet of our solar system. Beyond...

It was once thought that our solar system ended at Saturn. Then the first telescopes revealed Uranus and Neptune. Differences in the calculations of the gravity of these giants set off another search and Pluto was discovered. Pluto was then thought to be the last planet of our solar system. Beyond...

One hundred million years ago, Australia rose from the sea. The water drained from the highlands, and formed the rivers of today. The Murray River meanders across the landscape. It has had its course blocked several times by the rising new continent. It has created megalakes and forests, has provided...

The Danube is a romantic river. It begins in the Black Forest of Germany, slashes gorges through the mountains and meanders along broad plains. Many castles and palaces have been built along its banks. Many cities have been built, destroyed and rebuilt. A truly international river, it is a source...

You may think the Solar System consists of the sun and the eight planets that orbit around it. However, there are other things out there. There are comets, moons, asteroids, meteors, dust, ice, rock and much more. Plus there is a whole lot of man made junk. How much do you know about the solar system? Which...

The Nile River has amazed people for thousands of years. It runs opposite from most river systems. It floods for miles, pushing back the desert and providing farming lands for civilizations to thrive. It fills a massive swamp and has canyons and waterfalls that are as spectacular as anywhere in the...

The Ganges River or River Ganga begins in an ice cave in the Himalayan Mountains. It flows through India and Bangladesh and enters the sea at the world’s largest delta. The river supports over 400 million people and thousands of animal and plant species.It is sacred to the Hindu people and worshiped...

The Seine River is a slow moving river. It begins 1545 feet (471 metres) above sea level, and runs 482 miles (776 kilometres) in its journey to the English Channel.Once a major trade route, it is navigable by ocean going ships as far as Rouen.The Seine has been subject to monster tides, and great...