Spirit of Wonder

The first volume brings together mostly unrelated stories about mad scientists and quiet science-fiction drama. Its tales include experiments and adventures such as “The Universe Is So Vast and Wonderful!,” “To Invoke the Stars,” and “The Young Scientists’ Club on Mars.” In the later Miss China stories, the kind-hearted Miss China rents rooms to the ingenious Professor Breckenridge and his assistant, Jim Floyd. Though Jim cannot afford his rent, he spends his money on outlandish inventions, hoping both to please Miss China and to win her heart.