PREFACE 



SCIENTIFIC knowledge and scientific management are at the 

 root of all successful present-day projects and enterprises. The 

 business man who would keep his place in the modern com- 

 petitive struggle must have a thorough knowledge of the factors 

 which enter into his business and must know how to utilize 

 these factors in a constructive scientific way. Not only the 

 lives of staid business men, but also the lives of youths and 

 maidens are full of projects. The setting up of a homemade 

 telephone is as important an enterprise to the youth as is the 

 forging ahead in business to the mature man ; the planning of 

 a trial menu for household use is as great a project to a high 

 school girl as is the direction of a dietary kitchen to a skilled 

 dietitian. 



The aim of this book is to start young high school pupils on 

 scientific projects which will influence for good their present lives, 

 and which under different guise will equally influence for good 

 their future lives. Among the scientific projects presented to 

 the pupils are those of the selection of economic menus of 

 dietary standards; the selection of suitable paints, oils, and 

 varnishes for actual daily use ; the examination of different fuels, 

 and their adaptability to furnace and kitchen range; the inves- 

 tigation of home and school lighting and its influence on eye- 

 sight ; the utilization of simple labor-saving devices to relieve 

 physical exertion ; the employment of chemical agents to trans- 

 form useless waste products, such as grease and sewage, into 

 useful products, such as soaps and fertilizers; and the applica- 

 tion of hygienic facts and theories to school, home, and commu- 

 nity sanitation. 



I am indebted to many for the illustrations which are used 

 in the text. Acknowledgment is made to Professor Alvin 



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