Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Danny Dunn Time Traveler by Jay Williams Danny Dunn Time Traveler by Jay Williams. THE DANNY DUNN SERIES By Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin. DANNY DUNN AND THE ANTI-GRAVITY PAINT -- " A daydreaming youth accidently launches the first manned flight to outer space. " -- " Danny Dunn and his friend Professor Bullfinch accidentally develop a liquid that defies the power of gravity ." -- illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats. 1956. 1972. McGraw-Hill. Weekly Reader Book Club. Whittlesey House. Brockhampton Press. Scholastic. Pocket Books. Danny Dunn Time Traveler by Jay Williams. Danny Dunn and the Swamp Monster is the 12th book in the series, and was published in 1971. The plot revolves around the search for a mysterious creature, the Lau, that lives in the swamps of northeastern Africa. Given the locations mentioned, it appears to be somewhere in what is now South Sudan, but the final place names do not appear to be known to Google Maps, and so the exact location remains a mystery, as it should be. Of course, it wouldn't be a Danny Dunn story without a cool science MacGuffin, and this episode's contribution is a room temperature superconductor that Professor Bulfinch cooks up in his lab. This time the accident that creates something that scientists have spent decades and millions of dollars searching for, is as much the Professor's fault as Danny's. Simply overcook a pot of polymer on the stove and then give it an electrical shock, and you have something that would change the world as we know it . if only anyone remembered it existed after the book's final page. So, the basic plot is that Dr. Fenster, an absent-minded professor friend of Professor Bulfinch, arrives to talk about his hunt for the Lau, which Danny dearly hopes is a lost dinosaur. Dr. Fenster is ecstatic to find that the superconductor has been created, as he can definitely use it in his search. Given that the Lau lives in the swamps, he wants to use balloons to hold up cameras positioned strategically above the reeds, all of which will all be connected via the superconductor to a central power source and monitoring screens. The superconductor is light enough, as opposed to copper, that it won't drag the balloons down. Of course, they could have simply used the anti-gravity paint from book #1 but we'll just ignore that. And so a major expedition is arranged. Fortunately, Dr. Fenster is a millionaire, so money is no problem. And also naturally, Danny, Joe, and Irene are all invited along to experience this once-in-a-lifetime (not including the other books in the series) discovery. The whole team flies off to Khartoum and then south to their mysterious destination. I have to admit that I've never been to Egypt, but I just got the feeling from reading the scenes that take place there that the author was basing them on old Mummy movie ideas of everyday Egyptian life, rather than personal experience. And, of course, this is where some major foreshadowing comes in. The kids see things that make them concerned but, when they report them to the adults, they're told that they must be imagining things and that everything will be alright. Of course, the last couple of chapters of the book prove that they weren't imagining things after all. If only the adults would learn to listen. This installment isn't terribly science-heavy from the gadgets and gear perspective, but it does spend some time giving the reader a feel for what it's like to be out in the field and being at the mercy of nature as the team sets up camp, and has little to do but wait and watch. While other books are physics heavy, this one leans more towards biology as the Lau is finally discovered and its mysteries revealed. And given that there have been several cryptozoology legends (the coelacanth for one) that have turned out to be true, the Lau isn't actually all that farfetched. There are still lots of spots on the map in which dragons may still be hiding. advertising index / info Our advertisers make SFRevu possible, and your consideration is appreciated..