Meekins: 209 books

St George, defender of the helpless and slayer of dragons is a saint honored by many countries and many religions. He is as popular with Muslims and Jews as he is with Christians. How could this happen? We know dragons never existed. How could someone be so well known and honored worldwide for something...

St Patrick, Apostle of Ireland, is one of the best known saints of the Western World. Legends claim he converted the country of Ireland to Christianity and drove all the snakes into the sea.Most of what we know about Patrick comes from his own writings.Patrick wrote about his thoughts, dreams and...

Mary MacKillop devoted her life to educating poor children. With the help of Father Julian Woods, she established her own religious Order, the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart.She set up over 100 schools, educated 12,000 children, and received approval from the Pope for her Order.Mary constantly...

Throughout history men and women have done incredible things. Some of these people have been recognized by the catholic church, and made into saints. But in the beginning these were just ordinary people going about their ordinary lives.This compilation of 15-minute biographies tells the stories of...

Noses are wonderful things. They help us breathe. They are lined with mucous and hairs called cilia, which trap germs and tiny particles that can make us sick. They generate quarts (litres) of snot. They let us smell flowers and freshly baked foods. They also warn us of dangers from fires, rotten...

For millions of years, volcanic activity beneath the Earth’s crust has been turning rocks into granite. The rocks were uplifted, forming a small mountain range with small streams and creeks weaving their way through the valleys. Surface volcanoes erupted, covering the area in lava. The streams cut...

We see stars in the night sky as pretty, twinkling objects, but what exactly are they? A lot of the information we find out about stars, helps us understand other objects; pulsars, quasars, galaxies – even the origin of our universe. Here are some fun facts about stars. Do stars twinkle? What...

Thomas Edison was an inventor.He invented the electric lighting system, the phonograph and alkaline batteries. He invented a camera to record moving pictures and a device for watching them. He added sound to create a motion picture.He worked on and improved many of the machines we use today. He even...

TV and movies will have you believing that black holes are huge holes in space and anything that falls into them is lost for all time – possibly falling into another universe or another time, or even falling forever. You may think that black holes run around in space like huge vacuum cleaners sucking...

Maria Sklodowska was a Polish girl who wanted a proper education. She changed her name to and went to university in France. She met and married Pierre Curie and began to work with radioactivity.Marie Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first person to win two Nobel Prizes. Hers...

What is a Space Shuttle? How can something that can’t fly go into space? Do spiders spin webs in space? Do astronauts get space sick? This book answers all these questions and more, plus everybody’s favorite: How do astronauts go to the toilet? This book was written in 2007, prior to the end of...

Wilbur and Orville Wright dreamed of flying. They designed, built and tested gliders. They studied wings and propellers. They designed and built an engine.After years of testing and a few crashes, they flew the first powered aircraft. This is the story of their life.Find out more about these...

Mary Tudor was a princess who should have been a queen. Instead, her father shunned and disowned her because she was not a boy. After the deaths of her father and half brother, she had to fight those in power who sought to keep her off the throne.She was eventually crowned Queen of England. Her battles...

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...